Sharif works as a shopping tour guide in a large clothing store in Dhaka. He speaks fluent Chinese and knows the preferences of Chinese customers very well. The clothing brands that he recommends to Chinese tourists are exactly what they want.
In Dhaka, the service industry employs more and more people who are familiar with Chinese preferences, and can therefore communicate with their customers in Chinese. The Chinese language has become a bridge for communication between the two countries, as well as an effective tool Bangladeshi enterprises use to explore the Chinese market. This use of language is the epitome of deepening relations between the two countries under the Belt and Road framework.
Both China and Bangladesh are developing countries with large populations, similar national conditions and common development goals. In 2017, the two countries continued to support each other’s core interests and major concerns. In the context of the Belt and Road Initiative, they sought common development strategies and carried out pragmatic accords in terms of policy, infrastructure, trade, and finance and people-to-people connectivity.
In the past year, China and Bangladesh maintained frequent mutual high-level visits and conducted close governmental exchanges on major issues. Representatives of the Bangladeshi government and political party leaders sent congratulatory messages to the Communist Party of China during the 19th National People’s Congress (CPC) and they actively supported and attended the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting held in Beijing. Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, visited Bangladesh and played a constructive role in promoting solutions to a host of regional issues.
Over the past year, the Chinese and Bangladeshi navies held two joint military exercises and rescue training missions. Two submarines that Bangladesh purchased from China also went into service in March. Prime Minister Sheik Hasina Wazed personally witnessed the historic moment when she boarded the submarines, the first ever used by the country.
Cultural exchanges between the two countries in 2017 were highly varied and received an enthusiastic response. In January, the theatrical performance “Happy Spring Festival” was stunningly staged at the National Theatre in Dhaka as a prelude to the “Year of China-Bangladesh Friendship and Exchange”. In October, a special seminar on Traditional Chinese Medicine was held as part of the “Chinese Culture Lecture Room” programme. It saw a packed venue and lively interactions between the speakers and audience members. In November, the first “Ambassador Cup” China-Bangladesh friendship martial arts assembly—the highest level martial arts show in the country in recent years, attracted hundreds of participants, the youngest of them only ten years old.
More and younger Bangladeshi students, experts and scholars studied or attended various training courses in China last year. The affect was the deepening of mutual understanding between the two peoples. In September, the “2017 Bangladesh Youth Camp in China” was launched in Kunming, southwest China’s Yunnan province. More than 140 Bangladeshi students came to Yunnan University for a tour of cultural and educational exchanges.
In the past year, China and Bangladesh further deepened economic and trade efforts via a large number of projects. China Zhongtie Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd. also made remarkable progress in the building of Padma Bridge, a dream bridge for Bangladesh. Upon its completion, the bridge will connect the east and west banks of the Padma River and contribute at least one percent to the country’s overall economic growth.
Like the Chinese Dream of a great rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, the dream of a “Golden Bengal” is to make the country strong and the people rich. The Belt and Road Initiative will continue to act as a bridge to help the two peoples realise their respective dreams. (Adapted and translated from Xinhua)