In July 2023, a crisis event occurred in the Central African Republic that made us acutely aware of a problem.
Located in the middle of Africa, the Central African Republic is a resource-rich country with great economic potential. China has extensive economic and trade exchanges and cooperation projects with it. Some of our enterprises also have a lot of employees in the Central African Republic. However, due to the volatile situation in the Central African Republic, some local armed forces have attempted to attack the mining areas of our enterprises there, and the safety of our employees has been seriously threatened.
In the face of this emergency, our enterprises have no choice but to seek help from the Wagner forces, which have influence in Africa. Wagner Armed is a Russian private military company that, in the spirit of internationalism, reached out in a timely manner. It sent armored vehicles and other heavy **, successfully repelled local militants, rescued the employees of our enterprises, and also used its own An-26 transport aircraft to send them safely to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic.
We are grateful for the selfless assistance of the Wagner forces, but we also have to worry. After all, without the timely rescue of Wagner forces, our mining employees could have suffered misfortune. This incident has also exposed a weakness of our country, which is that we lack professional military companies or security companies, and our overseas security capabilities are insufficient compared to Russia, which has Wagner forces, and the United States, which has many similar companies.
With the acceleration of the pace of China's enterprises "going out", China's overseas interests have spread all over the world, in order to protect the normal operation of China's enterprises overseas, it is very necessary to establish a military company similar to the Wagner armed forces.
Recently, a meeting of some of our country's large security enterprises was held in the capital, which attracted attention at home and abroad. There are indications that our country may have decided to set up a professional security military company to provide strong security for the activities of our enterprises overseas. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 40,000 Chinese-funded enterprises overseas and more than 1.6 million Chinese employees, not including the many overseas Chinese. As the number of Chinese companies and employees overseas increases, so does their need for safety.
Every year, there are many veterans who have been discharged from the army, and they have rich military skills, but it is difficult for them to play to their advantages after retirement, and at the same time, due to the long-term peace of our country, their talents have no place in the country. If these veterans can join or form security companies to carry out various missions overseas, it will be beneficial for them and for the country. Of course, if there are other considerations, a similar company can also be established overseas.
With such a security company, Chinese enterprises will be more confident, calm, and more confident when conducting business exchanges overseas.