China's development concepts yield fruitful results, says Bangladeshi official

DHAKA -- China's efforts to pursue innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development have yielded fruitful results, with revolutionary progress in the development of the country's science, technology, health and aerospace fields, a senior Bangladeshi official has said.

Muhammad Faruk Khan, chairman of Bangladesh's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the development concepts have benefited both the Chinese people and the rest of the world, serving as "the catalyst for the development of many countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America."

The Padma Bridge, Bangladesh's largest bridge under construction, is a symbol of that new development philosophy, said Khan, who is also a lawmaker and a former minister.

"In Bangladesh, some of the very challenging developmental works like the Padma Bridge, like the Karnaphuli tunnel ... In all these things Chinese are involved," said Khan.

The COVID-19 pandemic stopped the construction work for some time, but the Chinese workers "immediately came back" and resumed the work, which is about to be completed, he said.

"They have proven to be very brave, and they enjoyed working together with their Bangladeshi friends," Khan added. "So, I believe that our cooperation in the future will continue. Chinese have come with much better technology."

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, "the world has understood that we cannot survive without each other. The planet belongs to all of us," he said.

"Medical doctors (from China) came, their experts came, and we had good meeting. I had the opportunity of attending some of these meetings," he added.

"China has immediately shared their experience with the rest of the world," he continued. "So, it's time that we quickly got over COVID-19 and all started working together for the further development."

Khan said he has been following China's undertaking of poverty eradication and learned from the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China that over 55 million people have been lifted out of poverty in China during 2016-2020.

Khan said he believes that with a population of 1.4 billion, China represents "a big market for the rest of the world."

The China-Bangladesh ties have been steadily growing on the basis of mutual trust, respect and development, according to Khan.

"I also visited China in 2019 when our honorable prime minister was on a tour to the country," Khan said, telling Xinhua that he was impressed by "the openness, friendliness and above all understanding" between leaders of the two countries.

"As the chairman of the (Parliamentary) Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, I feel very happy that the Bangladesh-China relationship is growing steadily," he said.