1986年6月,中江公司承包的贝宁公路工程开工,这个项目合同额65亿西非法郎(当时合2000多万美元),是中国在西非承包的第一个大工程。它标志着中国公司在西非着陆,打破了法国公司在这里的工程承包中一统天下的局面。然而,工程实施中遇到了许多意外的困难:料场变更使运距增大,工程造价明显上升;前期进场施工队伍不适应国外承包施工, In June 1986, the Benin Highway Project contracted by Zhongjiang Company was started. The project contract amounted to 6.5 billion CFA francs (at the time more than 20 million U.S. dollars) and was the first major project contracted by China in West Africa. It marks the landing of Chinese companies in West Africa, breaking the dominance of French companies in project contracting here. However, many unexpected difficulties were encountered in the implementation of the project: The change of the yard caused an increase in the distance, and the construction cost was significantly increased. The construction team in the early stage did not adapt to the foreign contracting construction.