Medical supplies are being loaded at a medical supermarket in Saudi Arabia on January 28 (COURTESY PHOTO) 

About 9,700 kilometers away from China, constructors of an affordable housing project directed by China Railway Tunnel (CRT), in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia bordering the Red Sea were working arduously, knowing that several days later they can go back home to celebrate the Spring Festival, as most of them had not gone home for two years since 2018 when the project started. CRT is a subsidiary of China Railway Group Limited, a central state-owned enterprise engaged in infrastructure projects abroad.  

However, the outbreak of COVID-19 upset their plans and some employees canceled their trips to lower the risk of infection.   

On January 26, the company received a notification seeking assistance for the epidemic-hit areas which were badly in need of medical supplies. Having the advantage of an international network, the company leveraged its overseas presence to purchase the materials.  

The moment the Saudi Arabia housing project team received the notification, they divided its team members into four groups, who were responsible for identifying the source, purchasing, transporting and communicating with the Chinese embassy. An action plan traversing the Red Sea coast began at 8 a.m. on January 28 local time, which was full of twists and turns.  

The first problem was lack of money. Due to a special cooperation mode with its foreign counterpart, the team did not have any emergency purchase fund, and the domestic banks and its parent company had not resumed work yet, so they collected their own deposits to ensure the purchase.   

Then there was a shortage of goods. The team originally asked its Saudi employees to find several places for the purchase, but they arrived only to find that the goods were sold off due to panic buying by local Chinese. Prices had soared, and what was left in stock did not meet the standard. When they were losing hope of finding the goods, someone suggested to ask a Chinese basketball group, which finally helped them find the source.   

But that was not the end of the trouble, as transportation became another headache. As per local requirements, goods need to be delivered through an intermediary agency and a great number of documents and procedures are needed. By the time they were ready, it was weekend, and they had to wait for another two days before they could declare the goods to the customs.   

"The goods were at the terminal of the airport but could not be delivered. It was a case of so near, yet so far," Zeng Jie, a team member, said.  

A total of 40,000 masks, 1,000 protective suits, 15,000 pairs of gloves, 6,000 protective hats and 1,200 N95 masks finally arrived on February 5 (Beijing time) in Wuhan, which marked the completion of their plan, symbolizing the love of the compatriots based thousands of miles away.  

Copyedited by Madhusudan Chaubey  

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