Chinese and foreign employees from Chinese companies take part in a marathon in Kuwait City, Kuwait, Sept. 20, 2019. A marathon organized by the Chinese companies in Kuwait is held in Kuwait City, capital of Kuwait, on Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese and foreign employees from Chinese companies take part in a marathon in Kuwait City, Kuwait, Sept. 20, 2019. A marathon organized by the Chinese companies in Kuwait is held in Kuwait City, capital of Kuwait, on Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese companies in Kuwait held on Friday a marathon in Kuwait City, capital of Kuwait, to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The event was organized by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) at Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway, one of the world's longest causeways. More than 100 Chinese and foreign employees from Chinese companies participated in the marathon.

"We hold the marathon to celebrate the 70 anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China," Xie Yulin, vice general manager of International Engineering Corporation of China Construction Industrial & Energy Engineering Group, told Xinhua on the sideline of the event.

"The Chinese employees along with their foreign co-workers will run 4-kilometer distance together," he said.

"The development of the China-Kuwait relations entered a new era where new horizons were opened for both countries," he noted.

"There is an obvious exchange between both countries where we can see how Kuwaitis started to tend to travel to China to learn the language and for tourism purposes. Also on the Chinese side, our projects in Kuwait are spreading to be involved with the development of Kuwait," Xie said.

"Four companies are participating in today's marathon race with about 150 participants. Through this event, we will promote the understanding between our domestic and local employees," Yang Zhengxiao, manager of Kuwait office of China Construction Industrial & Energy Engineering Group said.

"I came to Kuwait in 2016 and the company got involved in several projects and spreads fast. We have a lot of good engineers from China working with local colleges. We have an optimistic view of the future here in Kuwait," he added.

Yang praised the development of the bilateral relations in terms of depth from a higher level, which leads the bilateral cooperation under the construction of Belt and Road Initiative to more outcomes.

Proposed in 2013, the initiative, formally known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

Foreign employees of Chinese companies also expressed their happiness for participating in such event.

Abdalla Musleh, senior electrical enginer of CSCEC, said that "I feel it is very nice to contribute to this event, I am really grateful to work with Chinese company, and I really appreciate how high standards are implemented in the company."

"I am very happy to work in Chinese company. We really appreciate all of the efforts and support given in the project, and they respect us. This is very important," Makesh Arumainayagam, one of foreign employees, said, adding that "we will finish the project in time and we will have a good name with the project of this kind."

"Reviewing the development of the China-Kuwait relations in the past years shows that the bilateral cooperation in various fields has succeeded in achieving remarkable results. I'm glad to be part of the team," Mohammad Ali Rashed, an engineer in CSCEC, said.

Since the Kuwaiti government decided to merge its "Vision 2035" with China's Belt and Road Initiative, more Chinese companies have come to Kuwait to seek opportunities.

So far, there are more than 40 Chinese companies in Kuwait with more than 8,000 Chinese employees.