Striving to Complete the Annual Construction Goals 

      On September 22, 2020, the Kangda EP Construction Management Training & Working Conference was held in Junheng Conference Hall of Junheng Hotel, Nanjing. The Conference lasted for two days. Zhang Qingjie, general manager of the Construction Center, presided over the Conference, and over 50 attendees participated in the Conference, including Kangda EP's leaders like Duan Linnan, Xiao Aiguo, Tao Hua, and Fang Xuequan, personnel in charge of the Operation Department, Technology Department, Human Resources Department, and General Department, as well as vice general manager, heads of functional departments, and project managers of the Construction Center. Li Zhong, chairman of Kangda EP, delivered an important speech from Hong Kong via video connections to attendees at the Conference, given the outbreak of COVID-19.

      At 9:00 am, the Conference was held in Juanheng Conference Hall as scheduled. Duan Linnan, CEO of Kangda EP, took the lead in delivering a speech to appreciate the efforts by all employees of the Construction Center to fight against the pandemic and complete the construction within the time limit, and also clarify the purpose and meaning of the Conference. Duan Linnan indicated that Kangda EP attached great importance to the construction of projects, and gave great support to under-construction projects in such aspects as fund, labors, and materials in spite of financial stress. Although the current economic situation is not optimistic and enterprises are under pressure, Kangda EP still adheres to the tenet of "contributing to society with water-oriented principles". It is required that every project manager should clarify his or her position as a manager of project construction, and conduct the work based on the service concept of "satisfying government, leaders, customers, ordinary people, and employees". Meanwhile, the Construction Center should learn the importance of collaborating with the Operation Department in every working nodes, and establish a Party A-Party B relationship with sewage plants. The close cooperation between construction and operation, timely handling of legal procedures, planned use of funds, punctual acceptance inspection of projects, and timeliness of news reports should also be enhanced. To strengthen project managers' understanding of the Franchise Agreement, Kangda EP will organize them to take an exam on terms of the Franchise Agreement in proper time. 

      Then Fang Xuequan, vice president of Kangda EP, made a keynote speech titled Building Confidence, Clarifying Position, and Keeping Pace with the Times. Through this speech, Fang analyzed the difficulties and fruitful results of Kangda EP from three aspects and took the Taiyuan case as an example to encourage employees to face difficulties without fear, build confidence, and shoulder responsibilities. According to Fang Xuequan, the Taiyuan Project Department of the Construction Center, under the leadership of Kangda EP's management, gave up the opportunity of reuniting with family during the Spring Festival 2020 and forged ahead while tackling the difficulties of the pandemic. After more than 150 days of efforts, despite great challenges, the project department has completed the new work in the Taiyuan Phase-I Step-2 Project, which is capable of treating 200,000 tons of sewage a day, creating a miracle in sewage treatment project construction and setting an example for water project construction. Fully affirmed and highly appraised by the local government departments, the work is honored as the new speed of Taiyuan. Therefore, according to Fang, Kangda people should be confident in their strength and in Kangda' development in the future. 
      With regard to the development orientation of the Construction Center, Fang said, "As an independent department, the Construction Center must have a clear development orientation and identity its own development path. As we are engaged in construction and relevant services, we cannot consider ourselves as an employer unit. We must think big and carry out our construction management on the basis of safeguarding the long-term interests of our employers.

      In terms of the requirements for project managers, Fang indicated, "As a member of the Construction Center and a project manager, one cannot be selfish and distracted by other trivia and must get rid of bad practices in the past. A project manager must keep pace with the times, redefine and standardize the qualities needed for project managers, develop the concept of prioritizing profits, conduct the management and control of project construction including project planning, safety guarantee, quality monitoring, project progress management, and so on seriously, and spare no efforts to avoid problems in project management such as 'expense for idleness' and 'expense for rush-for-work'. In addition, all functional departments and project departments of the Construction Center must handle all matters flexibly according to the weaknesses and strengths of each project and strive to establish a mechanism of mutual supervision and management and create a good enterprise management atmosphere."

      Then, Vice Chairman Xiao Aiguo, after carefully analyzing the current situation of water project construction, pointed out:
      I. Currently, many projects are short of funds, mainly because they have not gone through all the legal formalities required to get finance due to various reasons. Hence, work in this aspect must be strengthened.
      II. Several construction projects lag behind in commercial operation. There are still 18 construction projects urgently needing to go through the formalities for commercial operation. The meeting made it clear that the operating company shall be responsible for going through the formalities for commercial operation and the project manager must cooperate unconditionally for it.

      III. Because some projects lagged behind in going through preliminary formalities and the project management in the middle stage and the relevant coordination work in the later stage were not implemented well enough, the audit work after the construction of the projects lacks overall planning, eventually causing damages to the enterprises. Hence, the relationship between construction and operation must be reasonably adjusted, it must be identified who Party A and Party B respectively are when it comes to the operator and the constructor, and great efforts must be made to realize the flow: the completion of the project whose relevant audit work is after its completion-project inspection and acceptance-commercial operation of the project.

      Then, Vice President Tao Hua put forward his hopes and requirements for the current construction work. According to Tao, it is hoped that all project departments will always pay attention to the project progress chart and the data progress chart and clearly know the settlement list and the archival data list. 

      Following the agenda, leaders and personnel in charge of functional departments of the Construction Center, as well as 34 participating PMs one by one reported the construction progress of the engineering projects in their charge, and the problems that need to be solved immediately, and suggestions for work improvement. Standing on the platform, without using epideictic skills, PMs shared the progress of projects in their charge, the practical difficulties in engineering construction, experience learned, approaches and methods for problems, and measures taken. It is instructive to share work achievements, experience, and lessons with peers. There is a saying goes like that "The professionals know the ropes, while the laymen just come along for the ride". Although PMs used plain words in their reporting, the experience contained is pragmatic working skills, which are of great benefit to guide the PMs to improve their business, and are a kind of unique business training.

      Afterward, deputy general managers of the Construction Center including He Xuan, Lin Chao, and Luo Hong respectively discussed the responsibilities and duties of PMs, the significance of communication, the on-site approval for construction and the budget & final account, and how the project departments perform well the compliance control and cost control of design alteration. Moreover, Zeng Xudong, CFO of the Construction Center made a speech to all the participants on the preparation of Project Promotion and Fund Demand Schedule, which caused a heated discussion among the leaders and PMs present. We often cite that "The more the truth is argued, the clearer it becomes". Through the training and debates, participants have gained a more explicit understanding of respective responsibilities.

      After carefully listening to the work report of each PM, General Manager Zhang Qingjie, based on the principle of seeking truth from facts and not avoiding contradictions, commented on the basic situation of each project department one by one and put forward solutions. The meeting conducted in-depth and full discussions around the problems existing in the work of each project department, earnestly summarized the construction management work from January to September 2020, and deployed the key construction work in the fourth quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, the meeting attached emphasis on normative, time-efficient, and accurate statements and standing books, and expounded on 12 dimensions such as the project coordination and overall weak profitability of construction projects of the Construction Center to require all construction personnel to earnestly implement the work policy of "strengthening the foundation, increasing revenue, and reducing expenditure", whereby concentrating on gathering strength, enhancing confidence, and carrying out innovative work, and working hard to achieve the strategic development goals set by the group at the beginning of the year.
      After carefully listening to the reports of leaders with specific duties, personnel in charge of functional departments, and PMs, President Li Zhong delivered an important speech through video. He firstly briefed participants on the performance of the semiannual report of Kangda EP. He said, "According to a performance data analysis released by enterprises in the industry, many enterprises in the same industry declined in performance in the first half of this year due to the global spread of COVID-19, China-US trade friction, and other adverse factors. Nevertheless, with concerted efforts, Kangda EP won the battle against the outbreak, overcame difficulties resulted from the economic downturn, and realized a 20% increase of income in step with profit, leading to a trend of good prospects in economic indicators. The construction sector eminently contributed to the growth of enterprises' performance indicators." 

      When it came to construction projects, Chairman Li Zhong pointed out that the construction sector is one of the cornerstones to promote the development of Kangda Group. The construction center is managing more than 100 projects, among which over 40 are under construction, with large scale, wide distribution and complex patterns. Amid the epidemic, some projects like the Taiyuan Project and Fuzhou Project have made progress, while some proceeded slowly due to many problems. Also, Chairman Li once again highly praised the personnel of the construction center led by Vice President Fang Xuequan for their concrete steps to honor their promises. During the worst period of the epidemic in China, the Kangda people, regardless of personal safety, rushed to the construction site of the Taiyuan Sewage Treatment Plant on the sixth day of the first lunar month to catch up on the process so as to complete the project ahead of schedule. With such efforts, a sewage treatment plant with a daily treatment capacity of 200,000 tons has been completed within about 100 days. It is not only a miracle in the industry but also a satisfactory result in response to the government's call. It presents Kangda's speed and commitment to developing a "new Kangda with a new image". 

      At present, all industries are facing a lot of pressure, and Kangda is no exception. Due to the severe economic situation, there has been a falling-off in the group company's average gross margin for construction compared to the same period last year. The construction center and project departments should attach great importance to it. It is hoped that all members of staff fully carry forward the spirit of constantly striving for progress to be the finest, release full potential and press ahead with the projects. Besides, timely actions should be taken to improve legal procedures, and great importance should be attached to the post-audit of construction projects, so as to increase construction revenue, scale benefits and profit margin as soon as possible. 
      The attendees were greatly inspired by the chairman's speech and said that they would follow what the chairman said as guidance, take their work seriously and work hard to fulfill their commitments to contribute to the stable development of Kangda. The meeting ended in a passionate and harmonious atmosphere. 
      In this meeting, project managers extracted knowledge through zero-distance communication and skill exchange, which will have extraordinary effects on improving the efficiency of work and learning of the enterprise and building a group culture. This is a work summary and deployment meeting that unites people, peps up, and keeps pace with the times! It not only inspires the morale of all employees and builds up their confidence, but also allows all Kangda people to see the direction and motivation for development! 
      “Many things in the world are hurriedly passing by. It is too long to wait ten thousand years before achieving success. We should seize every minute to strive for achievement." 

      We firmly believe that today's Kangda, guided by the correct policy of the management and with the strong support and assistance of China Water Affairs Group Limited, will maintain the spirit of racing against time to develop and innovate, and will surely achieve more brilliant achievements!