Wu Qi: On the Road to Enterprise Transformation and Development, Communist Party Members Charge Forward

A party member is a banner. "in the face of the challenges of enterprise transformation and development, Communist Party members should take the lead out of the comfort zone, charge ahead, and constantly meet new tasks and challenges with the courage to forge ahead and the confidence to do things." At the commendation meeting of Beijing Urban Construction North Group in 2024, Wu Qi, who was awarded an outstanding Communist Party member, spoke out the vanguard mission of all Communist Party members of the group in his speech.

It has been 16 years since Wu Qi graduated from university and entered the enterprise. He started from the front-line technician of the project, to the project technical leader, and then to the project leader; from the general contracting field of construction to the general contracting of EPC projects, to real estate development, spanning different business areas of the industry. Although his role has been changing, the goal of high-standard responsibility of engineers that he has always adhered to has never changed, and he has constantly challenged himself with his own practical actions, persisted in fulfilling the solemn promise of a party member, and constantly pursued new development and climbing higher.

 

Pocahondas on Ice: EPC's Journey of Transformation

In the cold winds of early spring 2020, the haze of the new crown epidemic enveloped the world, while the Saihanba National Ice Project Training Center in Chengde, Hebei Province, located in the Yudaokou Grassland Forest Scenic Area, Chengde City, Hebei Province, China, is gestating new life. This is a training venue tailored for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, carrying the dreams and hopes of countless athletes. However, the construction period of the project is only 8 months. "You can't stop for a moment, you can't make a mistake, and you can't afford to miss a day." This is the strict requirements of the Winter Olympics project for the project, and it is also the inner code of action of Wu Qi, the project manager of the EPC project for the first time.

When I first arrived at the site, Saihanba was in an extremely cold climate of minus 30°C. "The down jacket that came from Beijing froze through in less than half an hour outside the house," recalls Wu Qi, the project manager, saying, "I often wake up from the cold when I sleep at night". When the project broke ground, the 1.5 meters under the construction site were all frozen soil, "the electric pick hit the ground, and the shaking hand and tiger's mouth hurt". This undoubtedly increased the difficulty of earthwork construction, the operation time was forced to extend. "Take back the lost time!" Wu Qi knows very well that as a member of the Communist Party, he must stand up in the face of difficulties, charge ahead, lead the project technical team to face the difficulties, and start the construction of "starting is sprint" in an all-round way. However, the reality is far more cruel than imagined. In the face of the actual situation of short construction period and heavy tasks, superimposed on the local bad weather, material shortage and the outbreak of the new crown epidemic and many other adverse factors, it is almost impossible to complete the "traditional design and construction general contracting" model within the established construction period.

The steel structure and ice making of the stadium are the two longest time-consuming construction period nodes, and there are cross operations between the two. How to complete the installation of the grid in the shortest time without lowering the design standards? This is the first problem in front of Wu Qi.

The transformation from general construction contracting to EPC requires abandoning the inertial thinking of pure construction general contracting projects, thinking about problems from the perspective of customers, using design first strategies, optimizing design and construction plans, scientifically solving construction problems, and ensuring design effects and Under the premise of construction period, to provide customers with good products and services with low cost, good quality, and easy operation and maintenance.

"We can't follow the schedule, we must transform the traditional thinking of general construction contracting into EPC thinking!" At a project team meeting, Wu Qi said categorically. After many rounds of discussion and demonstration, they decided to use the ground assembly grid, the overall hydraulic synchronous jacking method to organize the construction. This is a bold idea that requires a high level of skill and teamwork.

"In order to save the construction period, when assembling the grid components on the ground, the large electromechanical equipment and the grid components should be directly assembled in place, and then the overall jacking should be carried out to provide the working surface for the ice making construction as soon as possible; after the jacking is completed, the rest of the equipment and pipelines should be carried out simultaneously with the ground ice making in the air ......" Wu Qi explained the details of the plan to the team members while sketching on the drawings. At the same time, the designer carefully studies the stress conditions of the whole grid frame, and analyzes the simulation stress of the whole lifting process to ensure the synchronous lifting of the whole grid frame.

In the end, this solution not only saves costs, but also saves 25 days of work. When the grid slowly rose and fell steadily on the predetermined position, the whole construction site was boiling. Wu Qi stood aside, a long-lost smile on his face.

However, the ice problem followed. Normal ice surface ice making construction takes 120 days, while the project leaves only 75 days for ice surface ice making. How to finish the ice-making work of three regional independent temperature control with high quality in such a short time? Wu Qi and the team were lost in thought again.

"We must carry out a full range of design optimization, from the source to reduce the amount of work." Wu Qi made this point at the team meeting. Through the design and optimization of the ice surface solder joints, they greatly compressed the engineering quantity and played a decisive role in the guarantee of the construction period. At the same time, technically, the project adheres to the Olympic environmental protection concept of "low carbon, green and safe", and innovatively adopts three independent CO₂ barrel pump equipment. The CO₂ ice-making coil is arranged independently according to the three functional areas of road speed skating, short track speed skating and figure skating, and a transition area is set up in the handover range of the three functional areas to reduce the mutual influence caused by different ice temperature and realize independent temperature control, the maximum temperature difference can be controlled in the range of 0.1~0.4 ℃.

Under the leadership of Wu Qi, the project team has also completed the replacement and upgrading of masonry materials, optimized the material and size of the inner door, and improved a series of innovative measures such as bolt ball technology. These efforts not only improve the quality of the project, but also further shorten the construction period.

Finally, in a short period of 8 months, the project completed the whole process from scheme design, construction drawing design, bidding and procurement, engineering construction to delivery. The Saihanba National Ice Project Training Center was completed as scheduled, becoming China's first sub-altitude ice sports complex integrating speed skating, short track speed skating, figure skating and curling training functions. When the high praise from the State Sports General Administration and the territorial government came, Wu Qi knew that they had succeeded. The project has not only won the China Steel Structure Gold Award, China Installation Star, Beijing Structural Great Wall Cup Gold Award, Hebei Province Construction Project Anji Cup and other awards, but also formed a number of scientific and technological achievements appraisal, Beijing-level construction methods, and patents. Achievements etc.

Standing in front of the brand-new training ground, Wu Qi was filled with emotion. This valuable EPC project management experience not only made him realize the rapid transformation of his role, but also made him gain growth and transformation in practice. He understood a truth: no matter how great challenges and difficulties he faces, as long as he dares to innovate and take responsibility, he will certainly be able to create brilliance.

 

Build a good house: Gorgeous turn real estate

In the spring of 2023, it was another new beginning for Wu Qi to take up the post of project general manager of Deyuan Mudanjiang Real Estate Development Company of the new group. This career transition is both an opportunity and a challenge for him. After all, he has to cross the border from the familiar EPC field to the unfamiliar real estate field, not to mention the severe real estate market environment.

"Transformation is always accompanied by labor pains. But as members of the Communist Party, we must not be afraid of difficulties and take the lead in stepping out of our comfort zone." Wu Qi told himself silently in his heart. He is well aware that this transformation is not only a change in position, but also a comprehensive change in the way of thinking and working. He needs to change from the previous focus on design guidance, technical standards and construction control to establishing the development thinking of "fixed production by sales" to create and meet the growing value needs of users.

The Party Central Committee of the Second Session of the 14th National People's Congress proposed "building a new model of real estate development". In terms of policy, it has always adhered to the positioning that houses are used for living, not for speculation, and strives to let the people live in good houses. In the future, real estate enterprises will strive for high quality, new technology, good service, iterative renewal, transformation and development, so that enterprises can have a market, development and future.

When he first arrived in Mudanjiang, Wu Qi led the team to conduct in-depth research and analysis to understand the current situation and needs of the local real estate market. He found that with the diversification of family structure and the upgrading of residential needs, traditional house design has been unable to meet the needs of modern people, and users' demand for products and services has become more and more diversified and personalized.

"A good house is not only a building piled up with bricks and tiles, but also a carrier for people's happy life." Wu Qi said at a project team meeting. He stressed that it is necessary to comprehensively improve product quality and service level from the aspects of household design, product positioning, better experience of users and after-sales management.

Therefore, they decided to introduce a brand-new apartment design concept into the two major projects of Deyuan Tianhui and Mingde Academy, creating a batch of practical and comfortable improved living spaces.

Among them, 142 square meters of four-bedroom apartment, 11.8 meters south of the super-large lighting surface makes people shine at the moment, three rooms are facing the sun, of which the living room accounts for 5.1 meters, ensuring sufficient lighting conditions in the room. The kitchen on the north side is 3.8 meters wide, which can create U-shaped cabinets, increase storage space, and can also set up island platforms. The design is practical and fashionable. The shear wall structure has been canceled in the north study, the partition wall between the study and the kitchen can be opened up. After the renovation, the 6.8-meter-wide kitchen space can be handled calmly even if the number of diners is large. Considering the situation of three generations living in the same room, the guest bathroom is designed to be separated from dry and wet, saving space and enhancing convenience. This apartment is only 14.7 per cent of the pool, with an interior area of 125 square meters. Once launched, it has been warmly sought after by the citizens of Mudanjiang.

In terms of building materials, the main body of the facade of Deyuan Tianyi uses decorative materials such as stone, aluminum plate and high quality real stone paint to highlight the atmosphere. Doors and windows adopt national brand aluminum-clad wood windows and brand cast aluminum doors to create high-end product capabilities and improve high quality.

In terms of landscape environment, the cultural elements of the academy are implanted, the multiple landscapes return home to experience the dynamic line, the garden between houses creates a noble and private theme courtyard, and the central axis area creates a bright theme and colorful all-age activity venue.

Wu Qi also actively promote the group's "development and construction integration" model. He knows that only by closely combining development and construction can we better create high quality buildings and build a happy living space for customers.

After countless days and nights of hard work, this year, the two major projects of Mudanjiang Deyuan Tianhui and Mingde Academy were successfully delivered. In particular, Deyuan Tianyi has achieved a qualitative leap. From building planning, construction standards to property quality services and other dimensions, it has carried out a comprehensive iterative upgrade and transformation of the entire product.

At the delivery site, the owners were full of happy smiles. An owner took Wu Qi's hand and said, "This house is really wonderful, it's beyond our expectations. Thank you!" Wu Qi smiled and said, "This is what we should do. Our goal is to go from 'delivering a house' to 'delivering a life' so that everyone can live a good life."

With his wisdom and courage, Wu Qi successfully realized the transformation from EPC to real estate, and left his own solid footprints on the new journey of real estate development.

For Wu Qi, since his career, he has been constantly accepting new tasks and challenges. Especially in recent years, with the strategic needs of enterprise transformation, quality improvement and high-quality development, he has personally experienced the transformation and development from construction plate to EPC to real estate development. The difficulty and span of the challenges have forced him to jump out of the comfort zone again and again. The sense of mission and responsibility of a Communist Party member allows him to accept tasks and challenges every time without too much hesitation, obey the call of the organization, lead the team to break through in difficulties, seek breakthroughs in challenges, and be selected from the beginning. Take the initiative to respond later. In recent years, he has successively won honors such as "Beijing Excellent Constructor", "China Steel Structure Gold Award" Outstanding Contribution Project Manager, Urban Construction Group "Science and Technology Progress Third Prize", and was awarded the Beijing "Capital Labor Medal" in 2024. Wu Qi used practical actions to make the party emblem shine in the mission.