China
Russian prime minister says pressure from West is strengthening ties with China
Pressure from the West is strengthening Russia's ties with China, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing Wednesday.
Mishustin's visit comes as Russia is increasingly turning to China for diplomatic and economic support amid growing isolation over its invasion of Ukraine.
Also Read: G7 urges China to press Russia to end war in Ukraine, respect Taiwan's status, fair trade rules
In opening remarks at his meeting Wednesday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Mishustin did not mention the 15-month-old war that China, in deference to Moscow, has refused to criticize, focusing instead on economic cooperation between the neighbors that have partnered in challenging the U.S. lead in global affairs.
Relations between the two countries are "at an unprecedented high level," influenced by the "increased turbulence in the international arena and the pattern of sensational pressure from the collective West," Mishustin said.
Also Read; New sanctions: How effective are they in stopping Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
China says it is a neutral party between Russia and Ukraine and wants to help broker an end to the conflict. But it has blamed the West for provoking Moscow and has maintained strong diplomatic and trade ties with Russia in opposition to sanctions against it.
China's special envoy met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other government officials during talks in Kyiv this month. The visit followed a phone call last month between the Ukrainian leader and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Zelenskyy described as "long and meaningful" and which marked the first known contact between the two since the Russian invasion began.
Also Read: The cyber gulag: How Russia tracks, censors and controls its citizens
Beijing released a peace plan in February but Ukraine's allies largely dismissed it, insisting that Putin must withdraw his forces. Zelenskyy's own 10-point peace plan includes a tribunal to prosecute war crimes committed by Russia.
While sidestepping the conflict, Mishustin emphasized Russia's role as a provider of oil and gas to China and their bonds formed as initial allies among communist nations.
"The peoples of Russia and China cherish their history, rich culture and traditions. We support the further development of our culture, exchanges and communication," Mishustin said.
Myanmar-China border trade fair to be held in Nay Pyi Taw
The Myanmar (Lashio)-China (Lincang) border trade fair is scheduled to be held in Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw, the Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.
The four-day trade fair, jointly organized by Myanmar's commerce ministry and China's Lincang city government, will be held on May 25-28.
"The trade fair is aimed at boosting trade relations between the two countries and strengthening interaction between traders of the two neighbors," Daw Naw Muta Kapaw, director-general of the Myanmar Trade Promotion Organization under the Ministry of Commerce, told Xinhua.
"It is the first in-person Myanmar-China border trade fair since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic," the official said, adding that the trade fair was virtually held in the last two years due to the pandemic.
The trade fair will feature more than 100 stalls, including more than 40 from China and about 70 from Myanmar, she said.
Companies from China will exhibit their products including coffee and tea products, macadamia, instant foods, solar appliances, electrical appliances, kitchenware and other consumer products, while Myanmar's gems and jewelry, local produces, and products from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) will be on display.
The last in-person Myanmar-China border trade fair took place in Lashio of Myanmar in November 2019.
Journalism award to recognize outstanding reporting on Bangladesh-China trade, investment ties
A new journalism competition will be held in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka to encourage more and better-quality investigative reporting to bolster Bangladesh-China ties in trade, commerce and investment.
An agreement on the Bangladesh China Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCCI) - the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) Journalism Award was signed here Saturday. Both sides have decided to jointly hold the journalism award event.
The "BCCCI-ERF Journalism Award" will cover five areas, including the trade and investment ties between Bangladesh and China, how the high-quality development of China has helped Bangladesh, science and technology, the Belt and Road Initiative and others.
Noting the professional significance of such an event, Al Mamun Mridha, secretary general of BCCCI, hoped that it would further encourage the economic journalists to analyze the topics of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and China.
Chinese FM spokesperson slams G7 summit's hyping up of China-related issues
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Saturday made remarks on G7 Hiroshima Summit's hyping up of China-related issues, urging the countries to stop ganging up to form exclusive blocs.
According to reports, the G7 Hiroshima Leaders' Communique and other documents adopted at the G7 Hiroshima Summit contain comments on the situation in the Taiwan Strait and accusations regarding the East China Sea, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and China's nuclear power, professed G7 opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo and claims about "economic coercion" that allude to China.
The spokesperson said the G7 makes high-sounding claims about "promoting a peaceful, stable and prosperous world," but what it does is hindering international peace, undermining regional stability and curbing other countries' development. That simply shows how little international credibility means to the G7.
Also Read: G7 urges China to press Russia to end war in Ukraine, respect Taiwan's status, fair trade rules
Despite China's serious concerns, the G7 used issues concerning China to smear and attack China and brazenly interfere in China's internal affairs. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this and has made serious demarches to the summit's host Japan and other parties concerned, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson stressed that resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese. The one-China principle is the solid anchor for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Noting that the G7 keeps emphasizing cross-Strait peace, and yet says nothing about the need to oppose "Taiwan independence," the spokesperson said this in effect constitutes connivance and support for "Taiwan independence" forces, and will only result in having a serious impact on cross-Strait peace and stability.
Affairs related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet are purely China's internal affairs, the spokesperson said, stressing that China firmly opposes interference by any external force in those affairs under the pretext of human rights.
China is a firm defender and contributor to international maritime rule of law, the spokesperson said, adding that the East China Sea and the South China Sea have remained overall stable. Relevant countries need to respect regional countries' efforts to uphold peace and stability and stop using maritime issues to drive a wedge between regional countries and incite bloc confrontation.
On "economic coercion", the spokesperson said the massive unilateral sanctions and acts of "decoupling" and disrupting industrial and supply chains make the U.S. the real coercer that politicizes and weaponizes economic and trade relations, urging the G7 not to become an accomplice in economic coercion.
Noting that China is firmly committed to a defensive nuclear strategy, the spokesperson said China has honored its pledge to "no first use" of nuclear weapons and always kept its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security.
China is the only one among the five nuclear weapon states to have made those pledges. China's position is above board and should not be distorted or denigrated, the spokesperson added.
The international community does not and will not accept the G7-dominated Western rules that seek to divide the world based on ideologies and values, still less will it succumb to the rules of exclusive small blocs designed to serve "America-first" and the vested interests of the few, the spokesperson said, urging G7 to reflect on its behavior and change course.
"We urge G7 members to catch up with the trend of the times, focus on addressing the various issues they have at home, stop ganging up to form exclusive blocs, stop containing and bludgeoning other countries, stop creating and stoking bloc confrontation and get back to the right path of dialogue and cooperation," said the spokesperson.
World leaders warn China and North Korea on nukes as Ukraine's Zelenskyy travels to G7 summit
Leaders of the world's most powerful democracies warned China and North Korea against building up their nuclear arsenals, pivoting to major northeast Asian crises ahead of the arrival later Saturday of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The focus on Asia at the Group of Seven summit comes as leaders tighten sanctions meant to punish Moscow and change the course of its 15-month invasion of Ukraine. Japan confirmed that Zelenskyy's decision to attend the G7 in person stemmed from his “strong wish” to participate in talks that will influence his nation's defense against Russia.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that President Joe Biden and Zelenskyy would have direct engagement at the summit, a day after Biden announced his support for training Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, a precursor to eventually providing those aircraft to Ukraine’s Air Force.
World leaders have faced a high-stakes balancing act in Hiroshima as they look to address a raft of global worries demanding urgent attention, including climate change, AI, poverty and economic instability, nuclear proliferation and, above all, the war in Ukraine.
Also read: Bangladeshi youth demand G7 nations stop financing deadly fossil fuels
China, the world's No. 2 economy, sits at the nexus of many of those concerns.
There is increasing anxiety in Asia that Beijing, which has been steadily building up its nuclear bomb program, could try to seize Taiwan by force, sparking a wider conflict. China claims the self-governing island as its own and regularly sends ships and warplanes near it.
The G7 leaders issued a statement warning that China's “accelerating build-up of its nuclear arsenal without transparency (or) meaningful dialogue poses a concern to global and regional stability.”
North Korea, which has been testing missiles at a torrid pace in an attempt to perfect a nuclear program meant to target the mainland United States, must completely abandon its nuclear bomb ambitions, the leaders said, "including any further nuclear tests or launches that use ballistic missile technology. North Korea cannot and will never have the status of a nuclear-weapon State under" international nuclear treaties, the statement said.
The green light on F-16 training is the latest shift by the Biden administration as it moves to arm Ukraine with more advanced and lethal weaponry, following earlier decisions to send rocket launcher systems and Abrams tanks. The United States has insisted that it is sending weapons to Ukraine to defend itself and has discouraged attacks by Ukraine into Russian territory.
“We’ve reached a moment where it is time to look down the road again to say what is Ukraine going to need as part of a future force, to be able to deter and defend against Russian aggression as we go forward,” Sullivan said.
An EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity to brief reporters on the deliberations, said Zelenskyy will take part in two separate sessions Sunday. The first session will be with G7 members only and will focus on the war in Ukraine. The second session will include the G7 as well as the other nations invited to take part in the summit, and will focus on “peace and stability.”
The G7 leaders also used their summit to roll out a new wave of global sanctions on Moscow as well as plans to enhance the effectiveness of existing financial penalties meant to constrain President Vladimir Putin’s war effort.
“Our support for Ukraine will not waver,” the G7 leaders said in a statement released after closed-door meetings. They vowed “to stand together against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.”
“Russia started this war and can end this war,” they said.
Zelenskyy has consistently called for the supply of Western fighter jets to bolster his country’s defenses against Russia’s invasion, but has until now faced skepticism from the United States that they would turn the tide in the war.
Now, as Ukraine has improved its air defenses with a host of Western-supplied anti-aircraft systems and prepares to launch a counteroffensive against Russia, officials believe the jets could become useful in the battle and essential to the country’s long-term security.
Biden's decisions on when, how many, and who will provide the fourth-generation F-16 fighter jets will be made in the months ahead while the training is underway, Biden told leaders.
The F-16 training is to be conducted in Europe and will likely begin in the coming weeks. That’s according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Biden’s private conversations with allies.
Zelenskyy said Friday that he had opened a visit to Saudi Arabia, where Arab leaders were holding their own summit.
The latest sanctions aimed at Russia include tighter restrictions on already-sanctioned people and firms involved in the war effort. More than 125 individuals and organizations across 20 countries have been hit with U.S. sanctions. The financial penalties have been primarily focused on sanctions evaders connected to technology procurement for the Kremlin. The Commerce Department also added 71 firms to its own list.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Friday sanctions “will further tighten the vise on Putin’s ability to wage his barbaric invasion and will advance our global efforts to cut off Russian attempts to evade sanctions.”
In addition, new reporting requirements were issued for people and firms that have any interest in Russian Central Bank assets. The purpose is to “fully map holdings of Russia’s sovereign assets that will remain immobilized in G7 jurisdictions until Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine,” the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Russia is now the most-sanctioned country in the world, but there are questions about the effectiveness.
Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said going into the summit that while G7 countries “deserve credit” for their sanctions, “Russia still maintains capacity to fight this war in the long term.”
She added that war's costs are "easily manageable for Russia in the next couple of years at least, and the cumulative effect of sanctions is just not strong enough to radically alter that.”
The G7 nations said in Friday’s statement that they would work to keep Russia from using the international financial system to prosecute its war, and they urged other nations to stop providing Russia with support and weapons “or face severe costs.”
World leaders Friday visited a peace park dedicated to the tens of thousands who died in the world’s first wartime atomic bomb detonation. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who represents Hiroshima in parliament, wants nuclear disarmament to be a major focus of discussions.
The peace park contains reminders of Aug. 6, 1945, when a U.S. B-29 dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, a city that has become synonymous with anti-nuclear peace efforts.
Biden, who scrapped plans to travel on to Papua New Guinea and Australia after his stay in Japan so that he can get back to debt limit talks in Washington, arranged to meet Saturday on the G-7 sidelines with leaders of the so-called Quad partnership, made up of Japan, Australia, India and the U.S.
As G7 attendees made their way to Hiroshima, Moscow unleashed yet another aerial attack on the Ukrainian capital. Loud explosions thundered through Kyiv during the early hours, marking the ninth time this month that Russian air raids have targeted the city after weeks of relative quiet.
In a bit of dueling diplomacy, Chinese President Xi Jinping is hosting the leaders of the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for a two-day summit in the Chinese city of Xi’an.
The G7 leaders are also to discuss efforts to strengthen the global economy and address rising prices that are squeezing families and government budgets around the world, particularly in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
A U.S. official said the leaders on Saturday would issue a joint communique outlining new projects in the G7's global infrastructure development initiative, which is meant to offer countries an alternative to China's investment dollars.
The G7 includes Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Italy, as well as the European Union.
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warns of China threats during Taiwan visit
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warned of the economic and political threats to the West posed by China during a visit Wednesday to Beijing's democratic rival Taiwan.
Truss is the first former British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s to visit the self-governing island republic that China claims as its own territory, to be conquered by force if necessary.
Still a sitting member of the House of Commons, Truss follows a growing list of elected representatives and former officials from the U.S., EU nations and elsewhere who have visited Taiwan to show their defiance of China’s threats and attempts to cut off the island and its high-tech economy from the international community.
“There are those who say they don’t want another Cold War. But this is not a choice we are in a position to make. Because China has already embarked on a self-reliance drive, whether we want to decouple from their economy or not," Truss said in an address to the Prospect Foundation at a hotel in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.
“China is growing its navy at an alarming rate and is undertaking the biggest military build-up in peacetime history,” she said.
"They have already formed alliances with other nations that want to see the free world in decline. They have already made a choice about their strategy. The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate — or we take action to prevent conflict,” Truss said.
Elsewhere, Truss praised her successor, Rishi Sunak, for describing China as “the biggest long-term threat to Britain” in comments last summer and for urging the closure of Chinese government-run cultural centers known as Confucius Institutes, which have been criticized as outlets for Communist Party propaganda. Such services could instead be provided by people from Taiwan and Hong Kong who come to the United Kingdom of their own volition.
In Beijing, spokesperson for the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office Mao Xiaoguang accused Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party of "spending the tax money of the Taiwanese people to bribe some anti-China politicians who have stepped down from office to stage a farce of seeking external support for independence in Taiwan."
Ma also renewed China's military threats against Taiwan, a day after the Chinese Defense Ministry condemned U.S. military assistance to the island.
“If they continue to challenge and force us, we will have to take decisive measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Ma told reporters at a biweekly news conference. “No one should underestimate our strong determination, unwavering will and strong ability.”
Next year is seen by some as a crucial period for tense relations between the sides, with U.S. and Taiwanese voters going to the polls. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has served the maximum two terms and Vice President Lai Ching-te, a strong independence supporter, will be running for the DPP.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, on Wednesday nominated local politician Hou Yu-ih as its candidate in the January election. Hou rose to prominence as a top police official but has relatively little experience dealing with China and Taiwan's international partners.
Taiwan will also elect a new legislature, which is currently controlled by the ruling party.
China's relations with Britain and most other Western democracies have been in steep decline in recent years, largely as a result of disputes over human rights, trade technology and China's aggressive moves toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea.
Beijing's relations with London have been especially bitter over China's sweeping crackdown on free speech, democracy and other civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was promised it would retain its freedoms after the handover to Chinese rule in 1997.
China has said a key previous bilateral agreement on Hong Kong no longer applies and has rejected British expressions of concern as interference in China's domestic political affairs. China has also been angered by a joint Australian-U.S.-British agreement known as AUKUS that would provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in part to counter the perceived rising threat from China.
Truss, who served an ill-fated seven weeks as prime minister last year, also said China could not be trusted to follow through on its commitments in areas from trade to protection of the environment.
And she praised Taiwan as “an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism” whose fate was a "core interest" to Europe.
“A blockade or invasion of Taiwan would undermine freedom and democracy in Europe. Just as a Russian victory in Ukraine would undermine freedom and democracy in the Pacific," Truss said.
"We in the United Kingdom and the free world must do all we can to back you,” she said.
Truss' remarks also stood in stark contrast to published comments from French President Emmanuel Macron last month that elicited doubts about whether Macron’s views were in line with other European countries on Taiwan’s status.
“The question we need to answer, as Europeans, is the following: Is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No,” Macron was quoted as saying in the interview. “The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”
Shortly afterward, Macron denied any change on France's views toward Taiwan, saying, “We are for the status quo, and this policy is constant.”
G7 finance leaders vow to contain inflation, strengthen supply chains but avoid mention of China
The Group of Seven’s top financial leaders united Saturday in their support for Ukraine and their determination to enforce sanctions against Russia for its aggression but stopped short of any overt mention of China.
The finance ministers and central bank chiefs ended three days of talks in Niigata, Japan, with a joint statement pledging to bring inflation under control, help countries struggling with onerous debts and strengthen financial systems.
They also committed to collaborating to build more stable, diversified supply chains for developing clean energy sources and to “enhance economic resilience globally against various shocks.”
The statement did not include any specific mention of China or of “economic coercion” in pursuit of political objectives, such as penalizing the companies of countries whose governments take actions that anger another country.
Also Read: G-7 talks focus on ways to fortify banks, supply chains as China accuses group of hypocrisy
Talk this week of such moves by China had drawn outraged rebukes from Beijing. Officials attending the talks in this port city apparently balked at overtly condemning China, given the huge stake most countries have in good relations with the rising power and No. 2 economy.
The finance leaders' talks laid the groundwork for a summit of G-7 leaders in Hiroshima next week that President Joe Biden is expected to attend despite a crisis over the U.S. debt ceiling that could result in a national default if it is not resolved in the coming weeks.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned the issue in a working dinner, but he refrained from saying anything more.
While in Niigata, Yellen warned that a failure to raise the debt ceiling to enable the government to continue paying its bills would bring an economic catastrophe, destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs and potentially disrupting global financial systems. No mention of the issue was made in the finance leaders' statement.
The G-7's devotion to protecting what it calls a “rules-based international order” got only a passing mention.
The leaders pledge to work together both within the G-7 and with other countries to “enhance economic resilience globally against various shocks, stand firm to protect our shared values, and preserve economic efficiency by upholding the free, fair and rules-based multilateral system,” it said.
G-7 economies comprise only a tenth of the world’s population but about 30% of economic activity, down from roughly half 40 years ago. Developing economies like China, India and Brazil have made huge gains, raising questions about the G-7's relevance and role in leading a world economy increasingly reliant on growth in less wealthy nations.
China had blasted as hypocrisy assertions by the U.S. and other G-7 countries that they are safeguarding a “rules-based international order” against “economic coercion” from Beijing and other threats.
China itself is a victim of economic coercion, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Friday.
“If any country should be criticized for economic coercion, it should be the United States. The U.S. has been overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export controls and taking discriminatory and unfair measures against foreign companies,” Wang said in a routine news briefing.
China accuses Washington of hindering its rise as an increasingly affluent, modern nation through trade and investment restrictions. Yellen said they are “narrowly targeted” to protect American economic security.
Despite recent turmoil in the banking industry, the G-7 statement said the financial system was “resilient” thanks to reforms implemented during the 2008 global financial crisis.
“Nevertheless, we need to remain vigilant and stay agile and flexible in our macroeconomic policy amid heightened uncertainty about the global economic outlook,” it said.
Meanwhile, inflation remains “elevated" and central banks are determined to bring it under control, it said.
Since prices remain “sticky,” some countries may see continued rate hikes, said Kazuo Ueda, Japan’s central bank governor. “The impact of the rate hikes has not been fully realized,” he told reporters.
Japan won support for its call for a “partnership” to strengthen supply chains to reduce the risk of disruptions similar to those seen during the pandemic, when supplies of items of all kinds, from medicines to toilet paper to high-tech computer chips, ran short in many countries.
Suzuki said details of that plan would be worked out later.
“Through the pandemic, we learned that supply chains tended to depend on a limited number of countries or one country,” he said, adding that economic security hinges on helping more countries develop their capacity to supply critical minerals and other products needed as the world switches to carbon-emissions-free energy.
Tensions with China, and with Russia over its war on Ukraine, inevitably loomed large during the talks in Japan, the G-7's only Asian member.
“We call for an immediate end of Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine, which would clear one of the biggest uncertainties over the global economic outlook,” the joint statement said.
The financial leaders took time to listen to ideas on how to focus more on welfare in policymaking, rather than just GDP and other numerical indicators that often drive decisions with profound impacts on people's well being.
“These efforts will help preserve confidence in democracy and a market-based economy, which are the core values of the G-7,” the finance leaders' statement concluded.
Suzuki said he and other leaders learned much from a seminar by Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize winner who worked in the Clinton administration and who has championed what he calls “progressive capitalism.”
It's a "very interesting view," Suzuki said, adding that “so far, we’ve been mostly focused on GDP and other numerical indicators."
Bangladesh number one place to engage 3 big powers and play a bridging role: Prof Kanti Bajpai
Despite some difficulties, Bangladesh is the number one place to engage all three big powers – India, China and the United States - in a bridging role, says a Singapore-based foreign affairs analyst.
“Anything to do with China and India has a shadow over the United States as well. And so I think Bangladesh is the number one place to engage all three in a bridging role,” said Professor Kanti Prasad Bajpai, Vice Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School, National University of Singapore.
He was speaking at a discussion this week as part of Cosmos Dialogue Distinguished Speaker’s Series, entitled “China-India Relations: Implication for South Asia.”
“I think its (Bangladesh’s) diplomatic links with both China and India, probably the strongest amongst all the countries of South Asia. The kind of positive equidistance that Bangladesh has between China and India probably no other country in this region can match. It also has fairly good relations with the United States,” Prof Bajpai said.
Read More: China "unswervingly mediating" between Bangladesh, Myanmar to promote Rohingya repatriation: Ambassador Yao
The discussion was chaired and conducted by President of Cosmos Foundation and renowned scholar-diplomat and former Advisor on Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh Caretaker Government Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury.
Chinese youths devoted to BRI projects in Bangladesh
In Dasherkandi village, located around the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, local children happily swam in the clean river under the scorching sun. Deng Mingze, deputy manager of the Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant project, felt elated as he observed this scene.
"Things were completely different before," explained the 33-year-old Chinese engineer from PowerChina Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited, adding that untreated sewage went straight into the river, making it so dirty in the past.
The Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant, financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and constructed by HydroChina Corporation, a subsidiary of PowerChina, started operation in April 2022. It marked the first modern large-scale sewage treatment plant in Bangladesh, capable of providing modern sewerage services to approximately 5 million people in Dhaka.
From then on, all water that flows into the river has been treated, making the river clear and visible to the naked eye, Deng said, citing that children frequently play in the area.
However, the project was not without its challenges. During the busiest period of construction, Deng and his colleagues worked from 6 a.m. until late at night for nearly six months.
As the saying goes, "no pain, no gain." Deng recalled that despite difficulties throughout the project, he became stronger mentally and more capable.
"As young people, we should have adaptability, innovation and problem-solving skills while working on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects to demonstrate the positive spirit of the Chinese youth to the world," he stressed.
In Keraniganj, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Zhang Yadong, an engineer from China Railway Group Limited, is working alongside his local colleagues on Bangladesh's largest BRI rail project.
Zhang arrived in Bangladesh right after his graduation in 2016, and he vividly remembers his initial struggles. "The first difficulty I encountered was having a meeting with the quantity surveyor to discuss measurements independently. It took me a long time to communicate with him due to differences in our understanding of the measurements," he said, adding that "it was a small thing, but I was really nervous at the time."
Using this experience as a foundation, Zhang has grown from an assistant economist to a commercial executive, working on key projects such as the 172-km Padma Bridge Rail Link Project that connects over 20 districts in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s GDP growth rate will overtake China’s in current fiscal year, IMF predicts
The latest report of the Internal Monetary Fund (IMF) on Asia-Pacific region forecasts that Bangladesh's GDP growth rate in the current fiscal year will overtake that of China.
The report also predicts that Bangladesh will be in second place, after Vietnam, in terms of GDP growth rate in Asia-Pacific in the next fiscal year.
According to the IMF's Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and Pacific May 2023 report, Bangladesh is expected to surpass both China and India in terms of growth in 2024.
In Bangladesh, GDP growth rate will slow down to 5.5 percent in 2023 because of demand-management measures, which is still higher than China's projected growth rate of 5.2 percent.
Read more: Bangladesh's GDP growth expected to pick up to 6.2% in FY2024: World Bank
But the economy of China is much bigger than that of Bangladesh.
The IMF report suggests that the recently approved Extended Fund Facility for Bangladesh will help address economic challenges caused by Russia's war in Ukraine, and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility arrangement will expand fiscal space to finance climate investment priorities and build resilience against long-term climate risks.
The report highlights the importance of international cooperation, particularly in securing financial assistance for climate change adaptation in vulnerable emerging markets in the region, including Bangladesh and the Pacific Islands.
Read More: Govt struggles to lift tax-GDP ratio to double digits