Shawdesh desk:

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming on Wednesday hoped that the government of Bangladesh, together with the Chinese government, will continue to introduce effective policies and measures that are conducive to the battle against the epidemic and beneficial for work in mega projects.

“With joint efforts, we will not only be able to successfully limit the impact of the epidemic, but also reach a new climax in Bangladesh-China economic and trade cooperation,” he said.

The Ambassador said it could be said that if China encounters difficulties in economic development, it will directly affect the economic growth of Bangladesh.

“However, we must see that Bangladesh made the choice to carry out economic and trade cooperation with China because of the best choice under the market economy environment,” said the Chinese envoy.

It has always been so and always will be in the future, which will not change because of the temporary outbreak of coronavirus epidemic, he said.

“China will always be the most reliable trading partner of Bangladesh and a firm builder and implementer of major infrastructure projects for “Belt and Road” connectivity,” said Jiming.

Looking ahead, he said, the industrial chain and supply chain of China-Bangladesh cooperation will only strengthen, not weaken.

The Ambassador said they will work hand in hand with the government of Bangladesh and all sectors of Bangladesh society to prevent the outbreak, overcome the temporary difficulties and serve for bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

During the traditional Chinese Spring Festival, thousands of Chinese employees here did not choose to return to China and reunite with their families, but continued to engage in the construction and production in Bangladesh.

“Therefore, many major projects are still under regular construction without being suspended. We believe that China’s large-scale production and operation activities in Bangladesh will not undergo a significant adverse impact due to the outbreak,” said the Chinese Ambassador.

The Chinese Ambassador and Bangladesh government officials gathered at the main camp of the First Division of CREC Project Management Office of Padma Bridge Rail Link Project to give an objective assessment of the impact of COVID-19 epidemic on China-Bangladesh economic and trade cooperation, and to look at measures that will reduce the impact of the epidemic, facilitate the long-term and sound development of economic and trade cooperation, corporately promote the implementation of major projects and create a new formula for China Bangladesh economic and trade cooperation under the latest complex situation.

So far, the risk of COVID-19 has been raised to very high at a global level by WHO.

This indicates that although China has achieved important results in the prevention and control of the epidemic, the overall situation around the world is still not optimistic, according to the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka.

“It’s a common issue for all countries in the world to find a way to strengthen epidemic prevention and control while maintaining economic development,” said the Chinese Ambassador.

He said a series of effective measures have been adopted since the outbreak of

COVID-19 epidemic in China.

The Chinese government prioritises people’s life safety and health first, gives full play to its institutional advantages, establishes a nationwide mechanism, coordinates resources allocation, organizes scientific and technological research, discloses epidemic information, and actively carries out international cooperation with a highly responsible attitude.

“As a result, the epidemic has been effectively contained so far. To elaborate, first, China pays high attention to epidemic prevention and control. President Xi Jinping deployed and directed the epidemic prevention efforts in person, hosting conferences many times to listen to real-time reports and make important instructions.”