Bangladesh remains an attractive destination for Chinese investors: envoy

The COVID-19 pandemic has done little to dampen China's enthusiasm to invest in Bangladesh as the "vitality and huge potential" of the country's economy continues to attract Chinese enterprises, according to Ambassador Li Jiming.

"It can be seen that the enthusiasm of Chinese enterprises to participate in Bangladesh's economic and social development has not subsided due to the impact of COVID-19," Li said in an interview with bdnews24.com.

"On the contrary, they have been working hard to make new breakthroughs, new highlights and new features of economic and trade cooperation under the COVID-19 pandemic."

The South Asian country also has the potential to further bolster trade with China by expanding its scale of production and improving product quality, according to Li.

Currently, 97 percent of products from Bangladesh enjoy duty-free access to the Chinese market, with exports reaching $600 million in July 2021, marking a 37.3 percent year on year increase, according to Chinese customs.

But Li believes Bangladesh can widen its export basket through 'industrial upgrading'.

"The garment export industry is the biggest advantage of Bangladesh, accounting for the majority of the country's exports. And also Bangladesh is rich in agricultural products, livestock products, tropical fruits and seafood."

"In terms of trade, China remains Bangladesh's largest trading partner. A large number of goods imported from China are still the raw materials for Bangladeshi enterprises, especially textile enterprises."

By fulfilling President Xi Jinping's promise to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of granting zero-tariff treatment to 97 percent of Bangladeshi products, China has demonstrated its support of global free trade and its will to take on the responsibility as a great power in the world, according to Li.

"Just as President Xi once said we will steadfastly expand all-round opening up and explore more efficient ways to connect domestic and foreign markets and share factors of production and resources. Our aim is to turn the China market into a market for the world, a market shared by all, and a market accessible to all.

"This way, we will be able to bring more positive energy to the global community."

China and Bangladesh have achieved 'remarkable economic and trade outcomes' by fostering bilateral ties, according to the envoy.

The relations between the two countries were elevated to a strategic partnership of cooperation and laid a solid foundation for further deepening economic and trade cooperation, particularly after President Xi's visit to Bangladesh in October 2016, he said.

And, it has only gone from strength to strength since the outbreak of COVID-19, with the two countries working in tandem to fight the pandemic and revive economic activities.

"Remarkable progress has been made in pandemic prevention and control, vaccine cooperation, economic recovery and people's well-being.

"In terms of Government-to-Government cooperation, China has not only provided Bangladesh with three batches of COVID-19 vaccines as gift, but also carried out vaccine production cooperation to promote faster and better access of Bangladeshi people to vaccines from China."

Li believes the foundation of economic and trade cooperation between China and Bangladesh will be solidified further with the expansion of production and use of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines in the country.

Meanwhile, the flow of investment from China has remained undeterred by the pandemic, with Chinese-funded projects going ahead as planned while some, such as the Payra Power Station project, have been completed and put into commercial operation, he said.

Despite the impact of COVID-19, work on the Padma Bridge Project, the Padma Railway Link project and the Tunnel under the Kanapuri River has continued thanks to the joint efforts of the two governments, he added.

Citing data from Bangladesh Bank, Li noted that China's FDI stock in Bangladesh has increased by $925 million between 2010 and 2020.

"During this time, the net inflow from China to Bangladesh in 2019 ranked first among all the FDI sources of Bangladesh."

But Li pointed out that the focus of China's investment in Bangladesh has shifted from light industry to infrastructure in the last decade.

"Chinese investors have also invested in Bangladesh's finance, mobile payment, and automotive industries. Till now, hundreds of Chinese-funded enterprises here have made outstanding contributions to Bangladesh's economic and social development in various fields," he said.

"In the future, with the improvement of the investment climate, I have confidence that the strong momentum of China's investment to Bangladesh will continue to provide strong impetus for the green recovery and sustainable development of Bangladesh amid the post-pandemic era."