Special report: Reconstruction After Earthquake¡¡
by Xinhua writers Qi Zijian and Chen Kai
YINGXIU, Sichuan, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- It is not usual for an electrician to light her way by mobile phone for hours in a building, let alone two. But Guo Zhengrong and her father, two electricians, did this after the May 12 earthquake struck.
Stranded in the rubble of their building in Yingxiu, epicenter of the eight-magnitude quake, which killed nearly 70,000 people and left some 18,000 missing, Guo and her father were in the dark.
Without any light and telecommunications, they used the glimmer of a mobile phone to move the bricks and floor slabs. They cleaned their way to safety almost one day later.
In early October, the winding mountain road led her back to her workplace in Yingxiu of Sichuan Province in southwest China, and Guo took up her job of electric welding again in the reconstruction of a hydropower station, which will supply electricity to many consumers, including an aluminum plant and two industry parks.
"I learned a lot of new technologies in the power station reconstruction," the 31-year-old Guo said. "Although the quake cast a shadow on my mind, I still enjoy the work here."
¡¡¡¡BAROMETER FOR RECONSTRUCTION PROCESS
Guo's life moves on, so do people in the quake-hit zone. And they need electric power in their life and work. Guo is a member of an electricity supplying corps, the state grid.
"Nearly all sectors, industry, infrastructure construction and residents consumption, are in need of electricity," said Xiao Bing, deputy director of Dujiangyan Electric Power Supply Bureau.
"We are gearing up to reconstruct ourselves, expand the grid and power the reconstruction in the quake-hit areas," he added.
The quake had stopped operations of 171 transformer substation of 35 kv and above in Sichuan, 2,769 lines of 10 kv and above, and cut the power supply to 4.05 million electricity consumers.
With the power supply resumed, the State Grid in Sichuan is expanding its capacity to meet the demand of intensified reconstruction.
"Power suppliers have to lead the way for reconstruction," said Du Xiaobo, director of Deyang Electric Power Bureau.
According to him, they contributed their efforts to such areas as grid expansion, power supply to infrastructure and industry projects, and residential consumption.
RECONSTRUCTION DEMAND CHAIN
On the reconstruction site of the road between Dujiangyan and Wenchuan in Sichuan, Feng Xuegang, general manager of the project, said they were turning the life-line of quake relief material transportation into a golden threat of opportunity for economic growth and tourism.
"We are in need of electric power as well as cement for the road building," Feng said.
One major cement supplier to the road reconstruction, the France-China joint venture Lafarge Dujiangyan Cement Company Limited, is resuming its second product line in November.
"The resumption of the line expands our power consumption," said Li Li, plant manager of the Lafarge Dujiangyan Cement Company Limited.
CUSHIONING GLOBAL FINANCIAL TURBULENCE IMPACT
The grid, one of the hubs in domestic demand expansion chain, connects reconstruction at one end, and its own material, equipment suppliers and employment at the other.
It helps suppliers cope with the effects of the global financial crisis.
Yang Fujun, a technical expert, landed a job in TBEA Deyang Cable Company Limited in Sichuan in October after quitting his jobin an electric cable company in Ningbo, a coastal city in Zhejiang Province, east China.
As the financial crisis deals a blow to the business of his previous employer, Yang finds that TBEA in Deyang, a manufacturer and exporter of cables, offers a better opportunity in reconstruction.
"I'm moving from the east to the west and from a smaller business to a bigger one," said 39-year-old Yang. "The prospects appear promising here."
As Du Xiaobo, director of Deyang Electric Power Bureau, put it, the expansion of the grid had a huge effect on its suppliers, including TBEA.
"When our exports drop because of the financial crisis, we are more domestic-oriented," said Yu Baiyi, general manager of TBEA Deyang Cable Company Limited. "TBEA supplies products to the grid."
On Nov. 12, the central government announced several steps, including approval of infrastructure projects and a further rise in export rebates, in a wide-ranging attempt to stimulate the economy and ease the impact of the global financial crisis.
On the reconstruction site of the hydropower station in Yingxiu, where Guo Zhengrong is doing her welding work, migrant worker Wang Zuoyou found his new employment.
Wang and his team of masons, from the Dujiangyan county, are working on the hydropower station's buildings. He earns a daily wage of 150 yuan, 30 yuan more than that he earned on his previous job.
"We can find a job without moving far from home," said Wang. "In some cases, we can even choose our employers.
"When more jobs are available, we have a better opportunity to make money," he said.
