Chinese Ambassador hails Bangladesh’s remarkable progress

The Chinese Ambassador Li Jiming placed the Yunnan province in China as a role model of economic growth. By doing so, he shed light on Bangladesh’s astounding progress in alleviating poverty under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

He made the remark while addressing the installation ceremony of the Association of Bangladesh-China Alumni (ABCA) and the jointly held webinar on poverty alleviation.

The event took place virtually on Thursday (October 20), and was streamed live on social media platforms starting at 3:00 PM.

The Chinese Ambassador said: Bangladesh, a developing country sharing the similar story of struggle for freedom and self-determination with China, has been one of the biggest development success stories in the Global South.

Conveying felicitations to PM Hasina, the ambassador said: Achieving independence in the hands of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and now being in the hands of his eldest daughter Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who inherited the charismatic and visionary leadership from her father.

Bangladesh has proved that with commitment and determination of the government and the people, it can come out of poverty and emerge as a low middle-income country within only a span of four decades as proclaimed by the World Bank in 2020, which says, “Globally, Bangladesh is a model for poverty reduction”, added the Chinese Ambassador.

Placing Yunnan and Bangladesh side by side, he said: Since 2000, Bangladesh has cut poverty in half, lifting more than 25 million people out of poverty. The success story is being broadened in new chapters even during the pandemic under the proper management of the government and owing to the diligence of Bangladeshi people.

The Chinese Ambassador inspired the youth in the event by sharing his exemplary inspirational childhood experiences growing up in Yunnan. He said: I come from Yunnan Province of China, a beautiful place hailed as "the distant place of poetry and the hometown of dreams". However, Yunnan used to be the province with the largest number of poverty-stricken counties in China, due to historical and natural reasons.”

He elaborated Yunnan's rise from poverty under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and President Xi.