Bangladesh-China Relations: A Summit Preview
Khaled Iqbal Chowdhury
Introduction:
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's upcoming visit to China has stirred a lot of interest and
raised expectations in the diplomatic arena. China is one of Bangladesh's largest trading
partners and China's contribution to Bangladesh's infrastructural development is also
noteworthy. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's China visit starting on 17 March 2010 is the
first top-level meeting between the two countries after Awami League won the general
elections in December, 2008. Therefore, the up-coming visit is attributed with immense
significance in terms of Sino-Bangladesh bilateral relations. Earlier, a high-level
delegation led by Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam visited China in
December 2009 and held meetings with senior Chinese leaders. According to media
sources, the Prime Minister's International Affairs adviser Professor Gowher Rizvi also
visited Beijing in 2009 in an effort to boost ties with the Government of China. China is a
growing power and it is in Bangladesh's interest not only to maintain but also to further
economic ties and other cooperative mechanisms with China. Many hope that the upcoming
summit-level meeting between Bangladesh and China will bring about qualitative
change in the nature of relations between the two countries.
Connectivity:
Today, we are living in an age of connectivity. Connectivity not only opens the way to
trade and commerce, but also plays a vital role in reinforcing relations among/between
neighbouring countries. During the Bangladeshi Prime Minister's recent visit to New
Delhi, Bangladesh offered India the use of Chittagong port facilities to transport goods.
The Joint Communiqué also noted that Bangladesh would offer similar facilities to Nepal
and Bhutan if India granted transit permission to these two countries. Now, if we can
connect with China through Myanmar, considering the magnitude of commercial
prospects, Bangladesh could become a commercial hub of South- and South-East Asia.
This will institute immense value to our economic growth. China's southwestern Yunnan
province is nearer to Chittagong than it is to Shanghai or Beijing. Allowing China to link
up with a Bangladeshi sea-port would be a lucrative offer to China's booming commerce.
As a result, Bangladesh's trade with China, Myanmar (and also with India, Nepal and
Bhutan) will burgeon dramatically. Currently, Bangladesh has a massive trade deficit
with two of its largest trading partnes - China and India. We believe that Bangladesh will
bring up the issue of connectivity when the two heads of the states meet in Beijing.
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Bangladesh in 2007 inked an agreement with Myanmar to construct a 25km-ong road to
connect the two countries. The project will eventually be expanded to link Bangladesh-
Myanmar-China into a tri-national network. When Bangladesh's Forign Minister Dipu
Moni visited Myanmar last year, she reiterated that the envisaged road network would
open up new avenues of exapanded regional trade and commerce. This will benefit all the
three countries concerned- China, Bangladesh and Myanmar. It will also help to develop
common stakes for these countries, stakes that none would find it in its interest to
compromise. Consequently, the existing strains in relations would likely wither away and
generate a win-win situation. We believe that the Prime Minister's China visit bears
immense significance in terms of regional diplomacy. The Bangladeshi side should
emphasise the connectivity issue for a fast-track implementation of the tri-nation road
network project. This is a realistic and affordable goal with significant gains for all sides.
Apart from road connections, Bangladesh may also want to explore the possibility of
connecting with East Asia through other modes of transportation. Recent reports suggest
that discussions have been underway to extend China's 'high-speed railway network' to 17
Asian and European countries along three routes.
These three routes are:
1. Kunming (Yunnan) - Myanmar - Singapore
2. Xinjiang - Central Asian 'Stans' - Germany
3. Liaoning - Russia - Europe
Discussions are at an advanced stage on the first route and the construction of this route is
expected to begin soon. If Bangladesh were able to link up with - or even get close to this
new railway network from Cox's Bazar-Teknaf area, Bangladesh's trade and tourism
prospects too would improve significantly.
Bangladesh fashioned a 'Look East' policy shift over a decade ago. However, it has failed
to substantively translate this policy into reality. Successful implementation of this policy
could open up new vistas of trade, commerce, economic, educational, scientifictechnological
and cultural collaboration with countries of South East Asia. Road and
railway linkages with South-East Asia via Myanmar would establish new pathways for
people, goods and ideas linking Bangladesh to the whole of the ASEAN-10 as well as
China. The potential of such connectivity to boost Bangladesh's economy is substantial
and the opportunity costs of not realising this potential is enormous.
Infrastructural Capacity Building:
The current government of Bangladesh has laid out Vision 2021 to mark the golden
jubilee of Bangladesh's independence. According to this 2021 vision, the government is
committed to elevating Bangladesh to a middle-income country by 2021. The plan also
envisages a Bangladesh with expanded road, rail, river and air transport and
telecommunication network. This is a noble vision but experts stress that it would require
significant increases in micro-level job creation via macro-level generation of
employment opportunities. It would require us to put in enormous effort to expand our
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existing infrastructural capacities- transport, energy and IT facilities- across the country.
This may sound ambitious but certainly not too farfetched. With proper motivation and
persistence Bangladesh can attain this vision. China has demonstrated its capacity and
effectiveness in these sectors over the past two decades. China has not only built its own
facilities, but also built cost-effective, energy-efficient installations in other developing
countries. Bangladesh needs to take advantage of this capacity, and we hope the Prime
Minister's China visit will open the way to a crucial breakthrough in this pursuit.
Tourism:
Tourism in Bangladesh remains one of the untapped areas. Bangladesh has immense
potential for tourism and can offer its magnificent Cox's Bazar-Teknaf coastal belt as an
unavoidable tourist destination to the world. Tourism potentials here are enormous but to
attract steady flows of foreign tourists, it would require substantial investment in
resources, planning sophistication, and technical expertise. China is not only able to
provide the required support but China has also expressed its willingness to do so on
many occasions. Cox's Bazar, with its longest uninterrupted natural beach in the world,
can become the most favoured tourist destination for the large middle classes with
disposable incomes from south-western Chinese provinces. Because of the advantage of
proximity – compared to coastal resorts in south-eastern China, a well-developed Cox's
Bazar would beat the competition hands down. If we can materialise this opportunity, a
steady revenue flow could be ensured to boost Bangladesh's over all tourism sector. All
we need to do is to lay out a comprehensive 'Tourism Policy' and to initiate negotiations
with the Chinese government in order to attract investment in this vital sector. This
possibility should be explored when the two heads of government meet in Beijing.
R&D Cooperation:
The Government of Bangladesh has vowed to build 'Digital Bangladesh' with a view to
overhauling the existing scientific-technological resource base of the country. Over the
past two decades, especially since 1986, China has made tremendous advancement in its
own scientific-technological resource base on the strength of which the current leadership
is focusing its 'scientific development' precept. This is an area where Bangladesh
government can seek and obtain assistance in helping to establish R&D centres in
Bangladesh, train Bangladeshi experts, transfer technology, and create Bagngladesh's
next generation of scientists for developing the country's scientific skills-base and
modernise its economy.
Trade and Investment:
China has already become the largest trading partner of Bangladesh supplanting India.
The Bangladesh-China bilateral trade volume increased from US$1.1 billion in 2002 to
US$4 billion in 2008 and is predicted to approach US$5 billion by the end of 2010; but
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the balance is tilted towards China. According to Bangladesh Bank sources, Bangladesh's
import payments to China during the July-September (2009) quarter exceeded US$917
million, whereas, the export receipts were only over US$23 million. Therefore, to reduce
the trade imbalance both the governments should initiate extensive talks immediately.
The Government of Bangladesh needs to take initiatives (trade expo etc.) to communicate
directly with the Chinese business community to expand our export volume to China.
New and large-scale Chinese investment in the country can play a major role in reversing
the current balance-of-payment status by turning it into Bangladesh's favour.
End Words:
Sino-Bangladeshi relations go back a long way. China has already made notable
contribution to the infrastructural developments of Bangladesh. China is already the third
largest economy of the world and has replaced Germany to become the largest exporter in
the world. Apart from its global role, China is increasingly becoming a major player in
the South Asian geopolitical affairs. Against this backdrop, the up-coming visit of Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina provides Bangladesh with an opportunity to present itself as a
major stakeholder in regional development and prosperity to China. We hope the visit
will boost already deepened Sino-Bangladeshi trade relations, bring both the countries
closer, and secure more Chinese assistance for our long-term economic development.
Khaled Iqbal Chowdhury
is working as a Research Analyst at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS)
