Employees of Sinopec Fifth Construction Company pose for group photos during the handover ceremony at the construction site of Kuwait New Refinery Project in Al Ahmadi Governorate, Kuwait, June 26, 2019. The third set of oil-refining equipment for the Kuwait New Refinery Project (NRP), constructed by China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), was handed over to its general contractor on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Nie Yunpeng)

KUWAIT CITY, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The third set of oil-refining equipment for the Kuwait New Refinery Project (NRP), constructed by China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), was handed over to its general contractor on Wednesday.

Sinopec Fifth Construction Company is NRP's sub-contractor. Once put into operation, the project will increase Kuwait's oil processing capacity of 31.5 million tons of crude oil per year.

The project is currently the largest refinery in the Middle East, said Wang Zhiwei, the project manager of Sinopec Fifth Construction Company.

At the handover ceremony, Armando Abad, the project director, said that the successful handover of the third set is "incredible achievements made by the Chinese company."

He expressed his admiration for the achievements, hoping that the remaining three sets of oil-refining equipment will be constructed and handed over on schedule.

For his part, Wang said that the handover rate of the project has so far reached 50% and 90.31% of the project progress has been finished.

"It is a result of collective efforts of our employees," he added, pledging that Sinopec Fifth Construction Company will ensure the handover of remaining sets on schedule.

"It is a good opportunity to build a Chinese brand in Kuwait and the Middle East with speed and quality," he stressed.

Kuwait is one of the first Arab countries to sign a cooperation agreement with China under the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2016, Sinopec Fifth Construction Company undertook the NRP project.

According to the contract, the Chinese company is responsible for installation of six sets of oil-refining equipment for the NRP with contract value of 519 million U.S. dollars.