'In an Exclusive Interview with the Executive Times, his Excellency the Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Zheng Qingdian underlines the importance of exploring further avenues for strengthening the relations between the two friendly countries.



Bangladesh is blessed with enormous resources and enjoys a uniquely privileged status in the international trade system, observes the Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh. He believes Bangladesh has the potential to attain "domestic economic vitality".

China is considered an economically developed country as its economy has consistently grown for nearly 30 years registering an annual GDP growth rate of 9.7%. "In my opinion, the miracle came from China-featured concept of Scientific development based on our country's own socio-economic situation."

"China is now building a ' harmonious society' for the sake of its further economic and social development and we sincerely hope to share our experience in social and economic development with Bangladesh and I warmly welcome you to visit China for your own observation."

A graduate in Hindi and History from Beijing University, Zheng worked as ambassador in India for 10 years and for 3 times. He has also worked in the Ministry in China. Zheng says he was inspired to learn Hindi and about Indian culture because India is a friend of China's.

While Bangladesh imports a large variety of Chinese products, its export to China is minimal. Referring to this trade imbalance, Zheng says, "China has no intention to strive for trade surplus with Bangladesh. The Chinese Government takes the issue of trade imbalance with Bangladesh seriously and has made substantial effort to solve the problem."

[China and Bangladesh are both countries with long civilized history and profound cultural heritage. Over the past years, the cultural communication between the two countries has played an important role in our bilateral relations.]

"We have taken combined measures to expand imports, including sending purchasing missions to Bangladesh, providing Government subsidies and preferential tariff treatment. This year a Chinese Government delegation came to Bangladesh and purchased local commodities worth 52 million US dollars. China has offered zero-tariff access to 84 categories of Bangladesh export products and hopes Bangladesh will take full advantage of this arrangement."

"To further improve the import from related countries, we have opened Import Pavilion at the Canton fair and we held 'South Asian Countries Products Exhibition' in December 2007. Bangladeshi enterprises are welcome to participate in all fairs and exhibitions held in China."

Zheng ascribes the trade imbalance to other factors such as "the different economic structures of the two countries", adding that the issue "cannot be addressed only by trade. We need to explore other solutions such as investment."

According to the ambassador, "Bangladesh has extensive advantages in attracting FDI as it has cheap labor and easy access to advanced markets. As far as I know, Chinese businessmen have already made a lot of investment in power, textile, telecommunications, agriculture as well as many other sectors in Bangladesh."

But Bangladesh needs more FDI from China and for that Zheng thinks "both the Chinese investors and local entrepreneurs should learn more from each other, in terms of language, culture etc in order to enhance their cooperation." And to further strengthen China-Bangladesh relations, he makes the following recommendations.

1) Strengthen exchanges between government departments and at different levels between the two countries. Exchanges are the foundation of enhancing mutual understanding and cooperation. The two sides may put in place mechanisms of mutual visits in key sectors such as energy and agriculture to maintain regular dialogues and inject new vitality into the growth of bilateral relations.

2)Deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in economy and trade. Economic cooperation is an important basis for fostering China-Bangladesh friendship. Bangladesh is China's third largest trade partner in South Asia. In recent years, bilateral trade and economic cooperation has grown rapidly, with bilateral trade volume approaching US$ 3.2 billion in 2006. But more potential remains to be tapped. China encourages mutual investment. It encourages competitive and reputable Chinese companies to invest in Bangladesh to promote mutually beneficial cooperation.

3) Expand cultural and educational exchanges. China-Bangladesh cooperation in education, tourism, human resources training and other fields has promising prospects. China will continue to boost people-to-people exchanges with Bangladesh.

4) Promote bilateral cooperation on regional and international issues. Bangladesh is well placed to promote various forms of regional and sub-regional cooperation. As Bangladesh pursues a "Look-East" policy, China is ready to work with Bangladesh to push forward regional cooperation. China also supports a more active role of Bangladesh in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the Economic Cooperation Forum among Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar and the ASEAN regional Forum. China and Bangladesh have maintained good dialogue and cooperation at international forums, which should be further strengthened.

Mutual visits and exchange programs, if regularly undertaken, will no doubt help bring the two countries closer. "I have had the pleasure to attend quite a lot of such cultural exchange programs and I firmly believe they will continue to make new contributions to enhancing the mutual understanding of our people."

"In 2005, the two prime ministers exchanged visits and they announced the establishment of a Comprehensive Partnership of Cooperation featuring long-term friendship, equality and mutual benefits, marking a new stage in the growth of bilateral ties."

"In 32 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, Bangladesh and China have carried out fruitful cooperation in the political, economic, military and cultural fields and our relations are moving towards maturity. I believe that with the joint efforts of both sides, our relation will grow deeply, substantially and comprehensively."

"China and Bangladesh are both countries with long civilized history and profound cultural heritage. Over the past years, the cultural communication between the two countries has played an important role in our bilateral relations. In the last decade, various delegates visited each other's country. A lot of exhibitions took place in both Beijing and Dhaka. "

"After the Chinese language was introduced in Dhaka University the first Confucius College was established in North South University in 2006, with several Chinese volunteers teaching the language. This has opened a window to the Chinese language for Bangladeshi people. Even the famous Chinese kung fu has now spread to Bangladesh."

Ambassador Zheng Qingdian has been in Bangladesh for 9 months. During this period he has visited many areas of Bangladesh and come in close contact with many Bangladeshis. "The most impressive things are the Bangladeshi people's hospitality and the innate friendship and brotherhood between Chinese and Bangladeshi people."

"I hope during my term here-and even in a longer perspective-our bilateral cooperation can be propelled to an even higher level and broader scope. We are convinced that with the joint effort of our two governments and people the friendship between the two countries will continue to acquire further strength in near future."