Recently, the Balkhash-Burylbaital LOT1 highway project in Kazakhstan (referred to as the "Babu 50 Project"), undertaken by Sinohydro Bureau 16, officially obtained its performance certificate, marking the successful completion of the project and making it the first of the 18 lots in the Karaganda-Almaty section of Kazakhstan's M36 highway to successfully fulfill its contract.

As a key section of the M36 national highway connecting Kazakhstan's capital Astana with its largest city Almaty, the Babu 50 Project has faced multiple challenges since its launch on June 10, 2019, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, tight raw material supplies, labor shortages, and rising costs. In the face of these difficulties, the project department rose to the challenge by organizing multiple rounds of labor competitions, continuously optimizing construction technology, and actively introducing innovations such as automatic leveling systems for graders and improved asphalt mixing processes, effectively breaking through construction bottlenecks and greatly improving operational efficiency, setting multiple construction records during the build.

Through the unremitting efforts of all project participants, the project completed asphalt paving along the entire line on October 14, 2022, achieving the goal of being "the last to start and the first to finish." At present, the other three lots undertaken by Sinohydro Bureau 16 on this highway have also been fully completed and have all entered the quality warranty period.

The smooth fulfillment of the Babu 50 Project not only demonstrates PowerChina's construction strength and contract performance capability in international projects, but also vividly illustrates the tangible achievements of China-Kazakhstan infrastructure connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative.