China duty-bound to contribute to international development: Ambassador

Chinese Ambassador Ma Mingqiang says Beijing feels “duty-bound” to contribute to international development endeavours as it owes much of its progress today to international cooperation.

He also sought to work together with Bangladesh through “win-win cooperation” so that the “dreams come true” for both countries.

“Bangladesh has a great dream of ‘Sonar Bangla’; we also have a ‘China Dream’,” he said on Wednesday while hosting a reception at the embassy ahead of the 66th founding anniversary of the ‘People’s Republic of China’.

The reception also marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Dhaka-Beijing diplomatic ties.

The envoy said over the 40 years, both China and Bangladesh “respected each other and supported each other’s endeavours to achieve stability, prosperity, and improvement of people's livelihood”.

“We are proud to see this relationship has brought tangible benefits to the peoples of the two countries,” he said, quoting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent comment that “the relationship is time-tested”.

Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism Rashed Khan Menon, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, and Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed were present at the reception.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in New York on Sep 26.

Dhaka-based diplomats of almost all embassies, politicians of different parties, journalists, academicians, military personnel, and business people were also among the guests.

As the chief guest, Menon said Bangladesh believes in ‘one China policy’ and that Beijing’s BCIM initiative with Bangladesh, India and Myanmar would bring economic benefit in the region.

China celebrates the founding day of the republic on Oct 1. The new China was born on this day in 1949.

The Ambassador said China made “remarkable progress on all fronts” over the last 66 years.

When China started its reform and opening to the world beyond in 1978, its per capita GDP was only $224, the second lowest among all countries.

China’s per capita GDP has increased 34 times to touch $7,500 today.

China is now the second largest economy, the biggest trade partner of more than 120 countries.

The Ambassador said the Chinese economy, despite being under strain, remains “resilient and full of potential and the ongoing structural reform is constantly delivering benefits”.

“We are focusing more on the quality and efficiency of economic performance and pursuing an innovation-driven strategy to fully unleash the potential of economic growth”.

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He said China owes much of its progress in development over the past decades to international cooperation.

“…we thus feel duty-bound to make contributions to international development endeavours,” he said, citing Beijing’s new initiatives like ‘Belt and Road’ to connect the region, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

He also highlighted the UN summit speech of President Xi Jinping who announced that China would set up a South-South cooperation fund with initial contribution of $2 billion.

The President also announced that China would make available more than $3 billion for setting up the ‘China South-South Climate Cooperation Fund’ to support other developing countries for addressing the climate change issues.

The ambassador referred to the Jinping-Hasina meeting on the sidelines of the UN summit three days ago, and said they had a “cordial exchange of views on a wide range of issues”.

“I am confident the consensus from this meeting will further bring forward the friendly bilateral relations”.