Your Excellency Mr. Wang Yubo, Governor of Yunnan Province, Your Excellency Mr. Yang Bin, Vice Governor of Yunnan Province
Your Excellency Mr. Wu Jianghao, Assistant Foreign Minister, Your Excellency Mr. Jiang Jiang, Vice President of CPAFCC
Distinguished ambassadors,
Distinguished representatives of participating governments and non-governmental organizations,
Ladies and gentlemen, friends from afar,

I’m Li Jiming, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is the theme country of the 6th China-South Asia Expo and It’s my great honor to attend this Forum. Hereby I’d like to express my warm congratulations to the opening of the 3rd China-South Asia Cooperation Forum and the 6th China-South Asia Expo.

The 3rd China-South Asia Cooperation Forum is held under the theme of Mutual Assistance for Regional Shared Development, and focuses on the practical challenges that China and South Asia are facing in the context of changes unseen in a century and a once-in-a-century pandemic. As neighboring countries with a shared future linked by the same mountains and rivers, China and South Asian countries such as Bangladesh have been long cooperating and helping each other and are committed to promoting regional shared development and prosperity .

South Asia is high on the agenda of China’s neighborhood diplomacy, and plays an important role in jointly developing Belt and Road cooperation, building a community with a shared future for mankind and enhancing practical cooperation in various fields. China has established strategic partnership or even closer bilateral relations with most countries in South Asia, and the political mutual trust has also steadily improved.

In the past ten years, the trade volume between China and South Asian countries has doubled, increasing from more than 90 billion USD to more than 180 billion USD. Bangladesh has actively participated in the open multilateral cooperation platform-“China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh”, recently established by China and relevant countries in South Asia. So far, the platform already held two foreign ministers’ meetings, one vice foreign ministers’ meeting and two director-generals’ meetings. The scope of cooperation has expanded from the fight against the COVID-19 to poverty alleviation and emergency material reserves, laying a solid foundation for building a China-South Asia community with a shared future. The opening of the 6th China-South Asia Expo this morning is another vivid example of all-round cooperation between China and South Asia.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from afar,

In 2016, China established a strategic cooperative partnership with Bangladesh, the first country in South Asia to sign the Belt and Road intergovernmental documents with China. Cooperation between China and Bangladesh is the epitome of China-South Asia cooperation. As the Ambassador of China to Bangladesh, I have the honor to witness the fruitful cooperation between China and South Asia from the unique perspective of bilateral cooperation between China and Bangladesh.

After the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina donated urgently-needed anti-pandemic materials to China on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh and its people. In return, after the domestic pandemic was brought under control, China provided a large amount of personal protective equipment, ventilators and vaccines to Bangladesh, and sent anti-pandemic medical expert team to Bangladesh at the peak of the outbreak in Bangladesh.

In the first nine months of this year, the bilateral trade volume between China and Bangladesh rebounded strongly against the background of the sluggish global economy, reaching USD 21.35 billion, an increase of 21.2%. As the duty-free treatment of 98% tariff lines goods of Bangladesh exported to China came into effect on September 1st this year,, Bangladesh is expected to further expand its exports to China. Delicacies such as Bangladeshi shad are expected to appear on the dinner tables of Chinese people.

In addition, several large-scale projects undertaken by China in Bangladesh harvested remarkable progress this year: Padma Bridge, the Dream Bridge of Bangladesh, was completed and opened to traffic; Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant, the largest single sewage treatment plant in South Asia, officially began operating; Karnaphuli River Tunnel, the first under-river road tunnel in South Asia, is expected to be completed in the year.

It is worth mentioning that leaders of Bangladesh have always been giving priority to and supporting China-South Asia cooperation. In 2014 and 2015, Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Hon’ble Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury attended the 2nd and the 3rd  China-South Asia Expo in Yunnan respectively. This year, Hon’ble Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and H.E. Dr. Abu Kalam Abdul Momen, MP & Hon’ble Minister of Foreign Affairs also delivered video speeches to the 6th China-South Asia Expo and the opening ceremony of the 3rd China-South Asia Cooperation Forum respectively.

From the gratifying results of China-Bangladesh cooperation, we can undoubtedly expecting a better future for China-South Asia cooperation at a higher level with a larger scope and broader coverage!

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from afar,

The 20th CPC National Congress pointed out that our world, our times and history are changing in ways like never before. China adheres to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in pursuing friendship and cooperation with other countries. China is committed to promoting a new type of international relations, deepening and expanding global partnerships based on equality, openness, and cooperation, and broadening the convergence of interests with other countries.

I believe that under the guidelines of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy and spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, China-South Asia cooperation will continue to advance in a faster speed, which will realize a joint development of China and South Asia, and inject more impetus for world development and stability.

Finally, wish the 3rd China-South Asia Cooperation Forum and the 6th China-South Asia Expo a complete success.

Thank You!