Xiao Xin (right), 34, an electrical engineer at PowerChina Resources Ltd, is interviewed by local television at the inauguration ceremony of the Ivovik Wind Farm Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Dec 16, 2021. (Photo provided to China Daily)

The national college entrance examination, or gaokao, which takes place in June in China every year, is considered by many to be the turning point of a student's life. It determines the college they go to and the major they study, helping set up their future career path. One previous gaokao taker, Xiao Xin, is a good example of the role of gaokao, but in a way that you might not expect.

Xiao works for PowerChina Resources Ltd, a company that builds power plants in Belt and Road countries. The 34-year-old is the youngest project manager in the company and now leads a wind power project in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

But this is not the career path that he had in mind, at least not 15 years ago when he took gaokao.

Xiao initially dreamed of studying traffic and transportation at Beijing Jiaotong University — the birthplace of modern China's railway management. But he didn't score high enough in gaokao and was offered a place to study electrical engineering at the university instead. Frustrated, Xiao finally accepted the offer, which — not realizing at that time — opened a new door for his future.

Xiao (second from front left) gives a speech at the inauguration ceremony. [Photo provided to China Daily]

During his undergraduate studies, Xiao gradually developed an interest in his major of electrical engineering. He decided to continue studying it through a master's degree and published various articles. Then, a job opportunity came when China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013.

"At that time, I was job-hunting and thought what I had studied at school would be of great use on the platform of the BRI," said Xiao.

Just like that, he landed his first job as an infrastructure project builder overseas and progressed to running the local company within just ten years.

"Looking back, I can see that every cloud has a silver lining. Never lose heart even if you suffer a setback in gaokao because it's only temporary," he said.

The first project Xiao participated in was the Port Qasim power plant in Pakistan, a major pilot project under the BRI. It is the first implementation project and large-scale electric energy project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Full of ambition, Xiao headed for Pakistan after a three-month orientation for new employees in 2014.But he soon encountered a challenge: the language barrier.

"To be honest, I was confident in my English since I had won several prizes in national English-speaking competitions back in school," said Xiao. But he soon realized that he lacked experience in day-to-day English communication for his work. For example, he had difficulty interpreting legal clauses in contracts and dealing with business negotiations.