The Tribune

By Chinese Ambassador

HU SHAN

THE coming May 23 will mark the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, which coincides with first sitting of the House of Assembly following the May 7 general elections in the Bahamas.

I hereby wish to express once again my sincere congratulations to the new government. In the meantime, I wish to take this opportunity to review the gratifying achievements which have been made between China and the Bahamas in such fields as politics, economy, investment, culture and education, and look forward to the future potential and opportunities before us.

I hope that we can take the two important events as an opportunity for greater achievements between us and raise the bilateral relations to a new height.

Despite the far distance between the two countries, the exchange between China and the Bahamas has a long history, with people-to-people friendly contact for at least over a century.

The fact that there are no historical grievances or immediate disputes between China and the Bahamas lays a solid foundation for the development of bilateral relations. Moreover, it is also in line with the interests of the two countries and the two peoples to develop the bilateral relations.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the relationship between China and the Bahamas has entered a new era of comprehensive development. The two countries surmounted the differences in ideology and social system, worked closely together and brought the advantage of the mutual complementarities into full play, thus resulting in rich rewards.

Politically, China and the Bahamas have respected each other and treated each other equally, giving rise to frequent high-level exchange of visits.

Here I just want to mention some of the important ones. Bahamian former Governor-General Orville Turnquest, Prime Minister Perry Christie and former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham visited China in 1999, 2004 and 1997 respectively.

Former President of the Senate Lynn Holowesko and Former Speaker of Parliament Alvin Smith visited China in 2010.

Chairman Wu Bangguo of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC), and Vice Chairman Cheng Siwei visited the Bahamas in 2009 and 2005 respectively.

Vice Premier Hui Liangyu and Vice Premier Wang Qishan visited the Bahamas in 2009 and 2011 in succession.

We also have State Counsellor Wu Yi and Deputy Chair Wang Lequan of Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee, who visited the Bahamas in 2003 and 2011 respectively.

Through those high-level exchange of visits, mutual political trust between the two countries has been strengthened and mutual understanding has been promoted, which set the right orientation for bilateral friendly co-operation and laid a solid foundation for the bilateral co-operation in varying sectors.

Apart from the visits at the state level, there were also a number of ministerial-level exchange of visits between the two countries.

In the international and regional arena, China and the Bahamas share the same or similar stances on major international and regional issues and have maintained good communication and co-ordination.

Economically, the two countries have realised a win-win scenario through co-operation of equality and mutual-benefit.

China and the Bahamas are highly complementary, with great potential of co-operation and a wide range of co-operative sectors.

Over the years, China and the Bahamas have signed a number of agreements related to economy, trade and relevant areas, such as the agreement on maritime transactions, the agreement on protection and promotion of mutual investment, the agreement for the exchange of information for tax purposes, the agreements on economic and technical cooperation, the MOU on the implementation of Chinese tourist groups to the Bahamas and the MOU on agricultural co-operation.

The signing of those agreements and MOUs has provided a legal framework for the bilateral co-operation in relevant fields.

Through bringing the advantage of complementarities into full play, the trade between the two countries has kept increasing, mutual investment has kept expanding, which has brought real benefits to the two countries and the two peoples.

According to statistics, the total trade volume between the two countries in recent years has been at the level of over 600 million US dollars.

Chinese enterprises have invested 150 million US dollars as well as 2.45 billion US dollars in commercial loans in the Bahamas. At the same time, the Bahamas has all together invested in 194 projects in China, with the total contact volume at 187.7 million US dollars.

In addition, China and the Bahamas have jointly worked together on some projects in the Bahamas by means of using Chinese preferential loans as well as Chinese assistance under bilateral economic and technical agreements.

The newly-dedicated Thomas A Robinson National Stadium of the Bahamas is a hallmark project of China-Bahamas economic and technical co-operation, which has made a long-term desire of the Bahamian people come true. The airport Gateway project is going well.

And the Baha Mar mega-resort, to which the Chinese side offered commercial loans, partly invested in and is conducting the construction, has already created more than a thousand job opportunities for the locals, thus effectively reducing the negative impact on Bahamian employment caused by the current global financial crisis.

It is expected that, upon completion by the end of 2014, the project will create a total of more than 10 thousand direct and indirect job opportunities, which, I am sure, will provide fresh impetus for the growth of the Bahamian tourism industry in particular, and for the economy as a whole.

Talking about the economic co-operation between China and the Bahamas, I'd like to stress the principle China has all along upheld, that is, the economic co-operation between China and the Bahamas comes with no political string attached, with no other country targeted, and with no exclusion of any third party.

Culturally and educationally, the two countries have drawn on the merits of each other and sought mutual complementarities.

An acrobatic troupe, a puppet show troupe and a children's performance troupe from China visited the Bahamas while the national youth choir and a song and dance troupe visited China.

The president of Nassau Music Society went to China recently for a visit while the president of the Chinese Musicians Association will visit the Bahamas with a string quartet in his company in early July. And also, China will for the first time take part in the Bahamas International Film Festival in December.

Over the past years, the Chinese government has provided full scholarships for 40 Bahamian students for them to study in China and has provided around a hundred Bahamian governmental and professional personnel with various symposiums and seminars in China.

In order to meet the needs of Bahamians in their enthusiasm for learning the Chinese language as well as Chinese culture, a Confucius Class was set up in the College of the Bahamas in 2009 and, with mutual consent, it will be upgraded to a Confucius Institute. Now both sides are working hard for that and the inauguration is sure to be realised soon.

In areas such as tourism, agriculture, aviation, health, both sides have also conducted useful communication and research, I am sure new progress will be made steadily.

Through the above brief review, it is not hard to see that the past 15 years are 15 years of considerable progress between China and the Bahamas, when mutual trust increased, friendship deepened and co-operation expanded.

The past 15 years are 15 years worthy of congratulations for the tangible benefits brought to the two countries and the two peoples.

And the past 15 years are 15 years of win-win co-operation, with common development fostered and thus the win-win goal realised.

Looking ahead, both countries are in an important stage of economic and social development, and thus have broad common interests between them. I foresee a bright prospect for further development in the bilateral relationship and that a lot more can be done in many aspects.

With the in-depth development of economic globalisation and the rapid progress of technology, in particular information technology, the world is becoming "smaller and smaller", just like "an earth village".

All countries are so intertwined and interdependent. Their interests are fused to such an unprecedented level that the common interests are becoming broader and broader.

There are more and more things demanding joint effort and the desire of mutual co-operation has never been so strong. Such being the case, the world in some sense is becoming a "community of interests", no country can gain development while isolated.

As a big, responsible developing country, China pursues an independent foreign policy of peace and sticks to a peaceful development road.

It has all along dedicated itself to a harmonious society domestically and has initiated an ever-lasting harmonious world internationally.

Over the past 30 years, China has attained eye-catching achievements with a long-term steady and relatively fast development by opening up and reform, in particular by its strategy of "going global" and "bringing in".

By 2010, China had attracted an accumulative 759.5 billion US dollars in foreign capital, ranking first in the world.

Meanwhile, the capital Chinese enterprises invested overseas also increased very fast, the amount of which in the year 2010 alone reached up to 68.8 billion US dollars.

In 2011, China's total GDP was close to 7.5 trillion US dollars, ranking second in the world. The current foreign exchange reserve had reached over 3.18 trillion US dollars.

Through reform and opening-up, China has not only developed itself but contributed positively to the economic and social development of the rest of the world, thus realising its goal of common development.

Just as Chinese president Hu Jintao put it, China is willing to work together with people from all other countries to share the development opportunities and to cope with all sorts of challenges so that more countries and peoples could benefit from the development of China. The Bahamas is of course included.

In 2011, the relations between China and the Caribbean countries continued to develop. The six measures raised by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan at the third Forum on China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Co-operation are well received by Caribbean countries.

Tourism is regarded as the pillar of the Bahamian economy. It is imperative to open up new markets to maintain healthy development of this pillar industry, and China is an ideal choice in this regard. With the continuous growth of the Chinese economy, the number of outbound Chinese visitors is increasing year by year.

In 2011, the number climbed up to a new high of 70.25 million person, and Chinese tourists have eyed some leading world tourism destinations that are not well-known in China, such as the Bahamas.

In 2011, the number of Chinese tourists and business travellers that directly went from China to the US was 1.36 million. This year, the number will possibly be close to nearly two million.

Suppose the Bahamas government were to provide a policy of convenience for Chinese tourists, this would surely stimulate the tourism industry of the Bahamas.

If direct flights between China and the Bahamas could be put in place, it would further promote the development of the Bahamian tourism and related industries.

China is a big traditional agricultural country, successfully feeding 20 per cent of world's population with only seven per cent of the world's arable land.

China has the advantage of money and technology while the Bahamas has unused land for agricultural development.

If Bahamians were to be self-sufficient in agriculture, the cost of living would be greatly reduced. So I believe that there's great potential for China and the Bahamas to co-operate in agriculture.

Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history of several thousand years, and it is quite effective for all kinds of diseases, in particular some difficult and complicated cases.

The Bahamas has abundant plants that can be used as medicine and some folk prescriptions. If China and the Bahamas can carry out co-operation in this area, bringing in some Chinese medical skills that are less costly yet very effective, such as acupuncture and bone specialty (orthopedics), it would really be good news for Bahamians.

A good beginning is half the battle. With the good beginning in terms of cultural exchange, I am fully convinced the two countries will develop further together with the increase in contact.

The Bahamas is also a wind-and-sun-rich country while China has advanced skills and capability in wind and solar power. Co-operation in this area will not only reduce the electricity cost to the Bahamian people, but effectively protect the Bahamian environment from being damaged.

I am delighted to feel that it has become a consensus between the government and the general public of the Bahamas to further develop China-Bahamas relations.

I am fully confident of the future development of the bilateral relationship and the future prospects of the Bahamas as well.

The Chinese side is willing to take the opportunity of the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries to carry on the past and open a way for the future.

We will work together with the Bahamian side for more co-operative fields and greater achievements in an effort to make more contributions to the two countries and the two peoples as well as the peace and development of the world.