As the Chinese saying goes, those who refuse to take the easy path will succeed; those who meet challenges head-on will prevail. So Xiao decided to brush up on his English, returning to a self-study schedule just like the one of high school days.

"Every day, I would recite words and read texts to develop a good sense of the English language," recalled Xiao. After about a month, he was more or less used to the English communication environment in Pakistan. Then, he even started to get a grasp of Pakistan's national language, Urdu, in order to better communicate with the locals.

"Our project is not only about energy and industrial cooperation but also about people-to-people exchanges, especially among young people," he said.

With such perseverance, Xiao and his young team from China, whose average age was 28 at that time, completed the power project in less than three years. The working experience deepened Xiao's understanding of the term "infrastructure giant" — a nickname that internet users gave to China, especially when referring to the country's infrastructure projects overseas.

"Everyone on site had an enormous capacity for hard work, and we shared the same goal. The local colleagues were also infected by our hardworking spirit, actively promoting the project," Xiao said.

Since the Port Qasim power plant began full operations in 2018, Xiao, as a front-line staff member, saw firsthand what the power plant meant for local Pakistani people. He said that only years ago, power outages often resulted in factory or production shutdowns. But now, the new power plant helps people have access to electricity around the clock.

"People can get a fridge or a TV set at home without worrying about damaging the motors due to frequent power outages," Xiao said. "All my local colleagues are just so proud of working in the plant."

For Xiao, this job has brought him a great sense of fulfillment and broadened his horizons.

"Over the years, I have always felt lucky. Not everyone has the opportunity to work out how to make a project grow out of nothing. Besides, I can work with people from different cultural backgrounds," he said. "And I've also got to know how the Belt and Road Initiative works, which makes me very proud of China."