Economic Reporter :
Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka Li Jiming has said that Bangladesh would remain one of the most dynamic economies in South Asia and the world with annual GDP growth of over 6 percent for many years.
“It’lll 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 said on Tuesday.
Bangladesh can benefit hugely from the vast Chinese market as China’s imports will exceed $30 trillion in next 15 years, the ambassador said.
To fulfill the promise made by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Beijing announced it would be granting ‘zero tariff access’ to 97 percent of its goods imported from Bangladesh, effective from July 1.
The Chinese ambassador said it can become a landmark starting point for a new chapter in the bilateral trade relationship. China has a large market with a population of more than 1.4 billion and China sincerely opens its market to other countries, he added.
In 2019, China’s total trade value of goods was about $ 4.5 trillion, of which imports account for about $ 2.2 trillion.
“It is estimated that in the next 15 years, China’s imports will exceed US$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”.
Jiming 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.
He said the difficulties caused by the pandemic are just temporary, while the friendship and trade development between China and Bangladesh would be long-lasting.
The Chinese envoy said with the implementation of 97 percent zero tariff treatment, Bangladesh-China economic and trade cooperation will definitely enter a significant new stage.
With the sweeping effect of COVID-19 pandemic throughout the world, the world trade has been suffering a heavy blow, and the trade between China and Bangladesh has also been affected, the Chinese ambassador said.
According to statistics from China, the trade volume from January to April of 2020 between China and Bangladesh was USD 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 so as to alleviate the trade imbalances.
He said China encourages Bangladesh trade companies to make full use of the 97% zero tariff treatment to expand market share in China and be of positive effect to the improvement of the economic and social development of Bangladesh as well as the well beings of the Bangladesh people.
The Ambassador said although the Covid-19 pandemic around the world has caused difficulties to the economic development of Bangladesh, it has not changed the fact that the working-age population is abundant, the demographic dividend is yet to be fully realized and the industrial growth potentiality is huge.
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 USD 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.
Through industrial upgrading, expanding production scale and improving product quality, Bangladesh has the full potential to continuously expand its exports to China.
