On the afternoon of December 26, the Group held the 33rd Meeting of the 7th Board of Directors in the Headquarters Conference Hall to review the Company’s performance in 2024 and outline plans for 2025; to deliberate and deploy work related to the UAE Branch; and to arrange key year-end priorities for the Company. All members of the Board of Directors, the Secretary of the Board, and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board attended the meeting, which was chaired by Chairman Zhang Xiangyang.

The meeting concluded that 2024 was an exceptionally unusual year in the company’s development, marked by significant risks and challenges. Under the strong leadership of the Party Committee of the Group, the Board of Directors, and the General Manager’s Office, all cadres and employees rose to the occasion in the face of an unprecedentedly complex and severe situation—namely, sluggish domestic and global economic recovery and a sustained downturn in the construction industry that has exceeded expectations. Adhering to the overarching principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability and using progress to promote stability, they accurately assessed the situation, bolstered their confidence, confronted difficulties head-on, and turned crises into opportunities for survival. As a result, the company achieved steady progress in its operations; made new strides in expanding into overseas markets; made further headway in preventing and resolving major risks; comprehensively advanced refined project cost management; reaped new successes in talent management; and attained new results in brand building, thereby sustaining a trajectory of continuous, stable, and healthy development.

The meeting pointed out that next year will be a pivotal year for the company’s survival and development, making it of paramount importance to deliver outstanding results. To this end, we must pool our efforts and focus on the following key priorities: First, we must create favorable conditions, proactively expand business operations, and consolidate our core business foundation. All subsidiaries should conduct in-depth analyses of market dynamics and industry trends in their respective regions, fully leverage the company’s comparative advantages, increase resource allocation, enhance independent operational capabilities, and strive to secure new projects to stabilize the overall economic performance of the enterprise, thereby laying a solid foundation and opening up greater room for success in all other areas of work. Second, we must make all-out efforts to prevent and resolve major risks. Each subsidiary should further strengthen organizational leadership, refine and implement specific measures, assume full responsibility for risk management within its jurisdiction, spare no effort to address existing risks, and firmly curb the emergence of new risks. Third, we must rigorously hone our internal capabilities and comprehensively implement refined project-cost management. Next year, we will achieve full coverage of refined cost management across all domestic and international projects, hold regular, tiered and region-specific project-cost analysis meetings, promptly close management loopholes, ensure high-quality project execution, and strive to establish a new competitive advantage based on low costs. Fourth, we must strengthen team building. With capability development as the central focus, we will work to optimize existing talent resources and substantially enhance our ability and level in addressing complex challenges; at the same time, we will reinforce positive incentives, strengthen performance evaluation, promote merit-based selection and elimination, and stimulate the intrinsic motivation of cadres and employees to take initiative and deliver results.

The meeting concluded that, since its establishment, the UAE Branch, through the concerted efforts of its staff and management, has ushered in a new phase in its operations and management, and has now become the company’s largest overseas market in terms of business scale and resource investment. The operational quality of the UAE Branch is directly linked to the overall survival and development of the company. At the same time, given that the UAE engineering market is a high-end, highly internationalized sector characterized by intense competition, it places exceptionally high demands on the company’s capabilities in project general contracting management. Therefore, it is imperative to further adjust and strengthen the branch’s management team, as well as to refine and enhance its management systems and practices, so as to ensure the UAE Branch’s steady and sustainable growth and eventual consolidation and expansion.

The meeting emphasized that, at present, all cadres and employees of the UAE Branch must put hard work first, bolster their confidence, rise to challenges, and strive for outstanding results, so as to ensure that all decisions and arrangements made by the Group are effectively implemented. It is essential to study thoroughly the FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction and the Commentary on the FIDIC Contract Series, gain an in-depth understanding of the UAE market, comprehensively identify operational risks, strengthen management of international engineering contracts, and endeavor to enhance capabilities in international engineering business management. Great importance must be attached to and focused efforts made to resolve the various difficulties and problems encountered in ongoing projects, ensuring that project construction tasks are completed on schedule and to the required quality standards, while effectively preventing and mitigating risks related to contract performance. Furthermore, meticulous cost management must be earnestly strengthened to maximize project profitability. Through the united and diligent efforts of all cadres and employees of the Branch, we will strive to achieve a turnaround, make new breakthroughs, and contribute anew to the Group’s implementation of the next phase of its “going global” strategy!

The meeting mandated that all departments at headquarters and all subordinate units should diligently carry out all tasks at the year-end and the beginning of the new year, with particular emphasis on project settlement, fund recovery, workplace safety, and year-end profit distribution. They are also required to conduct thorough investigations and effectively resolve all types of disputes and risks, thereby ensuring overall stability for the company.