Trade ties with China to enter new stage, says Chinese ambssador

With annual GDP growth of more than 6% for many years, Bangladesh will remain one of the most dynamic economies in South Asia and the world, says China.

Bangladesh can benefit hugely from the vast Chinese market as China's imports will exceed US$30 trillion in next 15 years, says its ambassador Li Jiming in the capital on Tuesday.

"It will be a win-win cooperation for China and Bangladesh to fully explore China's import capability, catch up with the demand of the Chinese market, and strengthen bilateral trade," he added.

"It is estimated that in the next 15 years, China's imports will exceed $30 trillion. China's import will continue to maintain great potential, providing a strong guarantee for China's economic development and a huge market for high-quality products of Bangladesh," said the ambassador.

He said the continuous development of bilateral trade will also provide a solid foundation for the realization of Bangladesh's development visions such as "Sonar Bangla" and "Digital Bangladesh."

The ambassador also said deepening cooperation in bilateral trade between China and Bangladesh is an inevitable choice to benefit the national economies and livelihoods, enhance the friendship between the two countries and effectively respond to the outbreak of the pandemic.

Ambassador Jiming said with the implementation of 97% zero tariff treatment, Bangladesh-China economic and trade cooperation will definitely enter a significant new stage.

In 1975, when diplomatic relations were established, the bilateral trade volume between Bangladesh was only $3.06 million.

While in 2019, the volume reached $18.33 billion, a dramatic rise compared with that of the initial time, said Jiming.

At the same time, China has become the largest trading partner of Bangladesh, and Bangladesh the second largest trading partner of China in South Asia, he said.

The trade volume between the two countries has maintained a relatively high level of growth in the past five years, with a growing rate of 24.6%, highlighting the rapid development of economic cooperation between China and Bangladesh, said the ambassador.

Ambassador Jiming said China-Bangladesh economic cooperation has been further consolidated under the Belt and Road Initiative, where the two countries provide each other with goods and services of excellent quality and reasonable price, and truly bring a sense of gain to the two peoples.

Trade affected by Covid-19

According to statistics from China, the trade volume from January to April of 2020 between China and Bangladesh was $5.02 billion, 16% down compared with the same period last year.

The Chinese envoy said it is high time that the 97% zero tariff treatment come out, which will definitely help the trade between the two countries to recover from the Covid-19 trauma, and enhance export from Bangladesh to China to alleviate the trade imbalances.

Giving a positive economic outlook for Bangladesh, he said garment export industry is the biggest advantageous industry of Bangladesh, accounting for the majority of the country's exports.

In 2019, he said, China imported textile, clothing and accessories from Bangladesh amounting to $590 million, accounting for about 57% of the total import.

The export potential of Bangladesh lies in the need to develop manufacturing industry, break through the limitations of its own industrial structure, continuously improve the quality of export products and shift to higher value-added exports, Jiming said.

Over the past 40 years, he said, Bangladesh garment manufacturing industry has made great progress, and its export volume has increased significantly.

However, the Ambassador said, it still has great potential in terms of the types of export commodities, the improvement of production efficiency, the diversification of export commodities, the improvement of technical content of products and the transfer of products with higher added value.

In addition, Jiming said, Bangladesh is rich in agricultural products, livestock products, tropical fruits and seafood.