The Tribune

THE new Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas Dai Qingli said she hopes to focus on several key areas while in office, including encouraging more Chinese travel to the region, promoting agriculture and fighting climate change. 

Ms Dai spoke to reporters shortly after she presented her letters of credence to Governor General Sir Cornelius Smith at a special ceremony held at his office in One Montagu Place yesterday. It was his first in person presentation since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines, Ambassador-designate Dai spoke of her intention to meet with various government officials to find out some of their top priorities so she can assist “with specific projects of mutual co-operation” between China and The Bahamas.

“So, obviously tourism is a huge sector and this country is very welcoming of Chinese tourists and I have every intention of working (with) The Bahamas government and working with the Chinese government agencies to encourage more Chinese tourists to travel to this part of the world and to enjoy the (scenery) of this country and what it has to offer.

“Another area would be agriculture and trying to work (with) your goals of having greater self-sufficiency in agriculture and also there are many other areas like renewable energies and disaster preparedness and working together to fight climate change and, to say the least, we have to work to tackle this pandemic together.

“And I want to say we have worked with each other very well during the pandemic and we have helped each other in fighting this virus and China will continue to give whatever help that is within our capacity to The Bahamas in fighting this virus because as the governor general said, we are in this together, so we need to fight this virus together.”

Ambassador-designate Dai is ninth Chinese ambassador appointed to The Bahamas. but is the first woman to serve in this role. She arrived in the country in March.

Asked about her thoughts about being the first female Chinese ambassador to The Bahamas, she replied: “Yeah, for me, it has been a great honour to be appointed the ninth Chinese ambassador to The Bahamas and also the first ever woman to serve in this role. There are many woman diplomats in China, but it hasn’t been easy to rise to the rank of ambassador and to serve in this beautiful island country, so many of my colleagues are quite jealous of me.”

For his part, Sir Cornelius congratulated the new ambassador. 

“I congratulate you on your appointment as the newest ambassador accredited to The Bahamas and first female ambassador on China to The Bahamas,” Sir Cornelius said yesterday.

“Over the past 24 years, The Bahamas and China enjoyed a robust relationship based on mutual support bilaterally and in the international arena. Our bilateral and diplomatic relations have been well served over these past 24 years by the quality of its envoys, particularly in enhancing the depth and scope of these relations which reflect and take into account the global conditions affecting The Bahamas.

“Your excellency, The Bahamas highly appreciates China’s assistance over the years and we are grateful for the invaluable assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian and the ongoing support in the fight in the global COVID-19 pandemic…as you would learn the Bahamian people are resilient and with friends like China standing in solidarity with us, we know that we will be able to overcome all of these challenges.”

Yesterday, Sir Cornelius also assured Ms Dai of his support “whenever possible” as she works to strengthen the friendship and bilateral relations between The Bahamas and China.

He said: “As we pursue our joint efforts during your call of duty, I want you to be assured of my support and that of my office whenever possible. I look forward to the deepening of relationships between our two countries during this period.”

Ambassador-designate Dai succeeds former ambassador, Huang Qinguo.