Striving for mutual benefit, win-win and in-depth cooperation

Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping will visit Bangladesh, Laos, New Zealand and Australia from June 14 to 24. Xi's visit would play a crucial role in further deepening China's economic and trade cooperation with these Asia-Pacific nations. On the eve of Xi's incoming trip, Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce Chen Jian highlighted the development of bilateral trade between China and these four countries.

The year 2010 marks the 35th anniversary of forging China-Bangladesh diplomatic ties, and the two nations have been cooperating fruitfully in all areas. With the establishment of Sino-Bangladesh Comprehensive Partnership of Cooperation in 2005, a new chapter has opened up bilateral friendship and cooperation.

Bilateral trade jumped by 370 percent from 970 million US dollars in 2001 to 4.6 billion dollars in 2009 and, in the first four months of this year, bilateral trade reached 1.805 billion dollars, a hefty rise of 39.9 percent year-on-year. By late April, China's engineering service export to Bangladesh had amounted to about 5 billion dollars, involving such industrial sectors as electric power, transport, telecommunications, water supply and chemicals.

Meanwhile, Chinese enterprises have made some headway with their investment in garments, home appliances and ceramics and contributed for economic and social development in Bangladesh.

When China starts in 2010 with the goal of zero tariff treatment for 60 percent of products from the least developed countries, Bangladesh would take this preferential measure to open up China's market and expand exports to China. Moreover, China has worked in coordination with Bangladesh on such major world issues as the global financial crisis and climate change crisis and the Doha Round trade negotiations.

Sin-Laotian ties show the sound momentum for an all-round development. Sino-Laotian trade rose by 12 fold from 61.83 million dollars in 2001 to 744 million dollars in 2009 and, bilateral trade amounted to 428 million dollars, a hefty rise of 73.3 percent over the preceding year. By late April, China has recorded a foreign investment of about 550 million dollars in Laos. China is currently the third largest trade partner and the second source of foreign investment of Laos. And the all-round completion of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in January 2010 has provided a new opportunity for the Sino-Laotian economic and trade cooperation.
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