The BRI is President Xi’s priority initiative, which aims to strengthen China’s global influence.
Beijing:
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he is ready with the leaders of Bangladesh to better align the strategies of the two countries and jointly promote the construction of his multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to bring the strategic partnership of the two countries to new heights.
Xi made the remarks during an exchange of congratulatory messages with his Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Abdul Hamid on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties on Sunday.
In his message, Xi praised the stable and long-term friendship, saying he was ready to work with Hamid to better align development strategies with Bangladesh, intensify cooperation under the BRI and advance the China-Bangladesh strategic and cooperative partnership for a new level, state media reported.
With over $ 26 billion in Chinese investment and $ 38 billion in financing commitments, Bangladesh is one of the main beneficiaries of China’s massive infrastructure project.
China also offered zero tariff treatment to 97 per cent of Bangladesh’s exports by adding 5,161 additional products to the existing list of 3,095 duty-free products.
The BRI seeks to build rail, sea and road links from Asia to Europe and Africa as part of a revival of the ancient Silk Road trade routes.
The issues with the BRI, formerly known as the One Belt One Road (OBOR), have been a major bone of contention between India and China, as part of the corridor runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Besides Pakistan, where China has initiated over USD 60 billion as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), China has stepped up its huge infrastructure investments in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, increasingly fearing its growing influence in India’s immediate neighborhood.
The BRI is President Xi’s priority initiative, which aims to strengthen China’s global influence.
The move, however, sparked allegations, particularly from the United States, of debt diplomacy after Sri Lanka ceded its port of Hambantota to a Chinese state-owned company in 2017 for a 99-year lease. in a $ 1.2 billion debt swap. . Malaysia has also postponed several projects under the BRI, citing a reassessment of costs.
Xi, in his message to Hamid, also said the two countries have worked together to fight COVID-19.
Previously, China sent a medical team to Bangladesh to share its experience in dealing with the coronavirus, which first emerged in Wuhan in December of last year.
Bangladesh is also one of a dozen countries where the final phase of Chinese vaccine clinical trials are underway.
In his message, Hamid said that relations between Bangladesh and China were developing rapidly and covered cooperation in key areas, to which Dhaka attached great importance, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
He expressed his deep gratitude for China’s continued support to Bangladesh in its progress of socio-economic development, adding that he believed the close and friendly relations between the two countries would continue to deepen in the future.
Also on Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang exchanged congratulatory messages with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Li said in his message that China is willing to deepen practical cooperation with Bangladesh in various fields and promote the steady and sustainable development of the China-Bangladesh strategic cooperation partnership to better benefit the two countries and their people.
For her part, Hasina said that the strategic cooperative partnership between Bangladesh and China was developed from the friendship and cooperation experienced by the two countries.
The enhanced cooperation between Bangladesh and China has unleashed enormous potential for maintaining peace, security and stability in the region and even in the world, Hasina said according to Xinhua News.
