Celebrating 100th anniversary of CPC | A bridge connects peoples of China and the Maldives

The China-Maldives Friendship Bridge had its third "birthday" on Aug 30, 2021. 

When the bridge opened on the same day in 2018, the nearby beach, breakwater, and viewing platform were all crowded with people trying to get a glimpse of the country's first modern bridge.

The 2-km bridge not only links the Maldivian capital of Male with neighboring island Hulhule, where the nation's only international airport is located, but connects the peoples of the Maldives and China. 

Nafra, a Maldivian high school student, said, "I hope this bridge can lead me to China."

Ibrahim is all smiles when he talks about the bridge. He works for a fire and rescue company that has been in business for more than 20 years. " In rescue services, time is very critical and every minute is precious. We must get to the scene as soon as possible to deal with accidents. The bridge shortens the time for cross-island rescue trip by 20 minutes, which makes our rescue more efficient and means more lives and property can be saved," Ibrahim said.

Employees from the Maldives, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and other countries, worked with Chinese technicians during the construction stage, learning from each other and bringing about fruitful results.

Yasin is one of them. A Chinese technician taught him how to compose circuit boards, disassemble electrical appliances, draw circuit diagrams and check the circuits on the bridge. He eventually grew into a construction team leader from a green hand, with professional skills and comprehensive ability significantly improved. 

"I hope I can stay with Chinese technicians and learn from them, I also hope my brother can learn Chinese well and work on Chinese engineering projects after graduation," Yasin said.