DHAKA - After 40 years of reform and opening-up, China has become an economic powerhouse providing a lot of new opportunities through its development initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative which will be of global benefit, a Bangladeshi expert told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Professor of economics at Dhaka University Selim Raihan, also the executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), a leading think-tank, made the remarks on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up.
“China’s economic development, poverty reduction and other areas of achievement over the past few decades have been impressive,” said Raihan, also an honorary senior research fellow at the University of Manchester in Britain.
From a very low level of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and high rate of poverty, he said China, over the past few decades, has succeeded in substantially raising its per capita GDP as well as radically reducing the rate of poverty.
These achievements in China have lifted tens of millions of people out of poverty, which has also contributed to the global reduction of poverty over the past few decades, he added.
“China has invested quite a lot in developing its physical and social infrastructure. As part of its physical infrastructural development, China has made significant progress and has witnessed rapid urbanization.”
In the case of social infrastructure, especially health and education, China has also made great strides, he said. “Countries, like Bangladesh, have a lot of things to learn from China such as how China has achieved such rapid economic growth and made significant structural changes to its economy that have seen the contribution of manufacturing to GDP and employment increased substantially,” said Raihan. (Xinhua)