Spotlight: Upgraded ties usher in new era for China-Bangladesh cooperation
DHAKA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President
Xi Jinping on Saturday completed a two-day state visit to Bangladesh, during which the two countries agreed to upgrade their ties to a strategic partnership of cooperation.
The visit, the first by a Chinese head of state to the South Asian country in three decades, heralds a new era for cooperation between the two countries, which established contact through ancient silk routes more than 2,000 years ago.
A MILESTONE VISIT
President Xi's "historic visit", called by local newspapers, started with the highest tribute to a foreign president from the Bangladeshi side. Xi was received on Friday at the airport by his Bangladeshi counterpart, Abdul Hamid, and given a 21-gun salute. The host country dispatched fighter jets to escort Xi's plane after it entered Bangladesh's airspace.
In Dhaka, posters with pictures of President Xi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Abdul Hamid, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, are adorning all the major streets and junctions across the city.
During Xi's visit, the two countries agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a strategic partnership of cooperation, raising the bilateral relationship to a new level.
During his meeting with Hasina on Friday, Xi said the closer comprehensive partnership of cooperation the two sides forged in 2010 has yielded fruitful results, with bilateral cooperation advancing steadily in political, economic, cultural and security areas and on international and regional affairs.
After their talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a string of cooperation documents covering such areas as the joint building of the Belt and Road Initiative, production capacity cooperation, information and telecommunication, energy and power, diplomatic affairs, maritime affairs, disaster prevention and alleviation, and climate change.
They also pledged to map out new major cooperation projects, especially in such key areas as infrastructure construction, transportation, information and telecommunication and agriculture.
"Given the high-level political mutual trust and advanced cooperation in many areas between China and Bangladesh, the upgrade (of bilateral ties) was perfectly timed and proper, charting the course for future development of bilateral ties," former Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Chai Xi said.
ENHANCING SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION
Xi's visit to Bangladesh, one of the least developed countries listed by the
United Nations, is also aimed at promoting South-South cooperation and inclusive development under the consensus reached at the G20 Hangzhou summit.
During the meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Abdul Hamid, Xi said the two sides agreed to make unremitting efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and push forward South-South cooperation.
The two sides have already shown similarity in their development goals and great potential for further cooperation.
During his talks with Hasina on Friday, Xi said China stands ready to push forward bilateral practical cooperation by aligning the development strategies of the two countries, noting that China is striving for its "two centenary goals" while Bangladesh is pursuing its "Sonar Bangla" dream of national strength and prosperity.
The "two centenary goals" refer to China's aspiration to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the time the Communist Party of China celebrates its centenary in 2021 and turn the People's Republic of China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, and harmonious by the time it celebrates its centenary in 2049.
Bangladesh, with its "Sonar Bangla" dream, aims to become a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed one by 2041.
China is now the largest trading partner of Bangladesh, and Bangladesh is China's third-largest trading partner and third-largest project contract market in South Asia with bilateral trade reaching 14.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2015.
China-made products, ranging from daily necessities to large machinery, can be found all over Bangladesh.
Industries such as communications and automobiles, in which China has technology and Bangladesh has great demand, hold vast potential for cooperation, said Jiang Jingkui, director of the Center for South Asian Studies at Peking University.
With China's support, Bangladesh implemented in June the country's largest-ever information and communication technology (ICT) project to connect nearly 20,000 government offices across the country.
The project, undertaken by companies including Huawei and China Machinery Engineering Corporation, has been considered a main project for building a digital Bangladesh by 2021.
"Xi's visit signals the beginning of a new era and a new height for China-Bangladesh relations. There will be more and more fruitful cooperation in the development of highways, railways, energy, power and communication," Chai said.
BELT AND ROAD OPPORTUNITIES
"Bangladesh, with its favorable geographic location and huge population, market potential and cooperation space, is an indispensable partner for China to advance the Belt and Road Initiative and production capacity cooperation in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region," Xi said in a signed article carried by leading Bangladeshi newspapers on Friday.
The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.
Bangladesh's firm support for the Belt and Road Initiative and and the building of an economic corridor linking Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) have borne fruit.
The multipurpose road-rail Padma Bridge, being built by the China Major Bridge Engineering Company, is the largest and most challenging infrastructure project in Bangladesh's history.
Once opened in 2018, it will significantly improve transportation in Bangladesh's northeast and southwest regions and bolster the Bangladeshi economy by 1.5 percent according to the estimation of economists.
The bridge will also make it more convenient for neighboring countries to use Bangladesh's seaports, and promote the country's trade with China, India and Myanmar.
Chinese enterprises have also signed deals with Bangladesh to build a two-lane tunnel underneath the Karnaphuli River, the first of its kind in Bangladesh, and to carry out detailed engineering design for a four-lane expansion of a national highway.
"Infrastructure is crucial to Bangladesh's development. The Belt and Road Initiative and the BCIM Economic Corridor will help improve air, rail and road transport for countries involved," Jiang Jingkui with Peking University said.
Better infrastructure calls for greater investment. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), of which Bangladesh is a founding member, and the Silk Road Fund, among others, could serve as financial sources.
In June, the AIIB approved its first four loans, including one worth 165 million U.S. dollars for a power distribution system upgrade and expansion project in Bangladesh.
"The Silk Road Fund, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank will help Bangladesh achieve its development goals. We expect closer China-Bangladesh cooperation under the Belt and Road framework," said Xiang Junyong, research fellow with Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China.
Bangladesh, China begin strategic partnership for cooperation, to work together on international issues
Bangladesh, China begin strategic partnership for cooperation, to work together on international issues
Bangladesh and China have elevated their “closer comprehensive partnership of cooperation” to a “strategic partnership for cooperation” and agreed on working together on regional and international issues.Both countries also agreed to jointly advance the China’s ‘belt and road initiative’ and establish and carry out “institutional cooperation” in areas of maritime cooperation and counterterrorism.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina disclosed their “elevated” level of cooperation at a joint statement after their official talks on Friday at the latter’s office. They witnessed the signing of 27 deals and unveiled plaques of six projects. The prime minister said those have created a platform for “our two countries to cooperate at a higher plane”.Xi arrived in Dhaka on Friday morning on a two-day state visit, first by any Chinese president in past 30 years.
“We agreed to elevate China-Bangladesh relations from a closer comprehensive partnership of cooperation to a strategic partnership of cooperation and to increase high level exchanges and strategic communication so that our bilateral relations continue to move ahead at higher level,” Xi said. He termed Bangladesh and China “good neighbours, good friends and good partners.”
“China, Bangladesh relationship is now at a new historical starting point and heading toward a promising future,” Xi said. “China is ready to work with Bangladesh to move forward as friends and partners who trust and support each other and to add more substance to China-Bangladesh strategic partnership of cooperation.” This way China-Bangladesh cooperation will deliver more fruits to our people and contribute to peace, stability and development of the region,” President Xi continued. “We agreed to form synergy between our respective development strategies, jointly advance the belt and road initiative and launch the joint feasibility study on a China, Bangladesh FTA to strengthen our trade and investment cooperation and strength practical cooperation in key areas such as infrastructure, productivity capacity, energy and power, transportation, ICT and agriculture."
He said China would “continue to do its best” to provide capital, technological and human resources support and carry out “more cooperation” on big projects with Bangladesh to support its economical and social development. We agreed to designate the year of 2017 as year of exchange and friendship between China and Bangladesh during which colorful events will be held to carry forward our traditional friendship,” the Chinese leader revealed.He said they also agreed to jointly advance the BCIM economic corridor and increase communication and coordination of international and regional issues of shared interest.
Prime Minister Hasina in her statement reiterated that Bangladesh supports China in all of its core issues including “one China policy”. “We have agreed to work closely and support each other on regional and international issues of mutual interest." “Our efforts today are aimed at attaining goals of becoming a knowledge-based middle-income country by 2021 and eventually a developed country by 2041,” she said.
What can Bangladesh learn from China?
China, one of the four oldest civilisations in the world, has a written history of more than 4,000 years and boasts rich cultural relics and historical sites. It is the inventor of compass, paper-making, gunpowder and printing. The Great Wall, Grand Canal and Karez irrigation system are three great ancient engineering projects built 2,000 years ago. Today, they are the symbols of the rich culture of the Chinese nation. China has gone over a long history of primitive, slavery, feudal and semi-feudal, semi-colonial societies and the present socialist society.
For centuries China was a leading civilisation and outpaced the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country went through civil unrest, major famines, military wars and occupation by foreigners. In 1949, China was established as a socialist society under Mao Zedong. After 1978, Mao's successor, Deng Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000, the country's output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the rooms for personal choices have expanded. Deng Xiaoping was an extraordinary leader. He drastically changed the economic policies of Mao, without really touching the political system and in thirty years, China went through dramatic economic development. For almost three decades, Chinese economy grew at the rate of 10 percent.
What are the big success stories of China? What are the factors responsible?
China is a country of 1.3 billion people living in 9.6 million square kilometers’. Eighty percent of Chinese people speak Mandarin. There are 56 ethnic groups in the country, but 92 percent of the Chinese people belong to one ethnic group, that is the Han. So the country is more or less a homogenous one as far as the population is concerned. This is similar to the situation in Bangladesh. We are a fairly homogenous country with more than 85 percent Muslims speaking one language, Bangla, having one culture, living in a contiguous, compact and fertile land mass with plenty of water.
Chinese people are extremely hard working and for the government and the people, national interest is above all others. “China first” is their motto in developing relations with foreign countries. Among the major drivers for China's success are the Chinese people, the true creator of China's economic success, and the great culture that shapes their characteristics: ambitious, hardworking, thrifty, caring for their families and relentlessly pursuing good education and success.
Chinese people have an open-minded spirit of learning. When the country became an open economy towards the end of the 1970s, the leadership in China decided to send delegations to learn from other countries, especially from the US, Japan and Europe. They went for in-depth studies and learning, and did not hesitate to accept that China was far behind the Western countries. They learned, adopted and implemented what they learned, in their 'own terms'. Then again, thousands of students were sent abroad, mostly to the US for higher studies. A journalist once asked Deng Xiaoping, “You are sending so many people to the West, what if they don't return?” In reply he said, “They will, because they are Chinese”. What we observed over the years is that most of them returned and are contributing to the country's development. The Chinese also have a rich, qualified diaspora outside China, who are investing and working for the development of the economy.
China has created its own model of development, a feature of which is called 'development administration' in contrast to public administration. China's five year plans, the central and local government plans and administration, the party's annual conference are all part of its development administration. A day will come when Chinese universities will be offering courses and even degrees in development administration just as degrees in public administration are common in other countries.
China has become the “Factory of the World”. They produce everything, from needles to aero planes. Most of the western modern machines and equipment’s presently produce their required high quality finished goods and parts in China, whether it is a computer, mobile phones, cameras, televisions, toys, household goods and appliances, vehicles, clothes, high-tech apparatus, you just name it. To become the factory of the world, China has invested human and financial resources to train and upgrade the technical skills of millions of people. Presently, there are more than 250 million migrant workers producing these goods in China. China has become the top exporter of such goods and materials all over the world. To reach this state of technical production capabilities, China has developed very sophisticated vocational training institutes. These are as good as any good university, only focused on technical skills development.
China has done commendable work in its poverty alleviation programmes. In about 25 years, they have uplifted more than 500 million people above the poverty line. The reasons being, pro-poor policies, concern for the people, especially the poor, linking the poor with the market, building people's technical, financial and management capabilities and modernising agriculture. Based on the line of USD 2 per day, poverty declined from 972 million in 1981 to 474 million in 2005, which means that 498 million people have moved above the poverty line. However, China still has a big challenge in poverty alleviation, with a huge number of people living under the poverty line even now.
Thrift is another secret of China's success with a 25 percent personal savings rate. The huge savings by its people have created financial security for many Chinese families, reduced government spending on social welfares and helped fund many grand infrastructure projects in China, such as the world's No. 1 high speed railway system.
China has a system of institutionalised consultation and policy debates in major decision-making processes. These kinds of consultations tend to generate enormous public expectations, usually more positive than negative, for economic development. In the process, such expectations create new, medium and long term demands. Any Five Year Plan of China thus creates an interest and attention of the major part of the Chinese society, from private firms to state-owned enterprises to individuals.
In 35 years, China has accomplished at least three significant transformations, in particular: a) a transformation from a planned economy to a market economy; b) a transformation from an agrarian society to an industrialised society and c) a transformation from a closed economy to a largely open economy integrated with the world.
I am not sure what China did for you country, but we work together for more better future, Money Money and Money,
