The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Chinese Embassy yesterday announced the country hoped to form better linkages and create new investments in The Bahamas following China’s 20th National Congress of China’s Communist Party.

Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas Dai Qingli said yesterday that the CPC, as she called it, was held in Beijing from October 16-22, one month ahead of COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6 to 18.

Once every five years, the CPCs are held to establish the strategic direction of China and to deal with other party affairs.

Ambassador Dai Qingli said this year, several major plans were stated in a report made at the event in reference to investments to better education, health, sports, the economy and sustainability in The Bahamas.

 “China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Global Development Initiative make available financing channels for developing countries,” she said.

 “We hope The Bahamas will make full use of these resources and consider joining this development’s initiatives to gain greater benefits for people.”

 In terms of health investments, Ambassador Dai Qingli said China will continue to work with The Bahamas to fight the pandemic.

 “We have so far brought 10 batches of medical supplies to The Bahamas. A new shipment is now on the way so at the same time we feel much more can be done between our countries. So there is still tremendous potential.”

 She said next year when China forms a new government in March and then The Bahamas celebrates its 50th year of independence in July, China will be looking to increase mutual visits at various levels for the benefit of both economies.

 “We will be working to build bridges between our business communities by holding trade shows and networking events and encouraging the right to trade to ease the cost of living challenges in The Bahamas,” the Chinese ambassador said.

 “We will be exploring and taking forward practical cooperation in agriculture, infrastructure development and renewable energy.”

 In addition, sustainable efforts will take place through the presence of senior level delegates from China at COP27 next week, whom the ambassador said will be supportive of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis’ position on climate change and calls for continued assistance for developing countries from more developed nations.

 “I know last year, some people tried to make an issue out of the absence of Chinese leaders. We will certainly send a senior level delegation to COP27,” she said.

 “There are actually overlapping areas of interest between China and The Bahamas in climate change. For example, China also calls for the honouring of the commitments of 100 billion US dollars every year by developed countries to developing countries particularly to the vulnerable, developing countries, we share that position.”

 In terms of education, Ambassador Dai Qingli said study visa applications and scholarships for students will be available moving forward.

 “Educational exchanges are very important and sports exchanges too,” she said.

 “With the easing of the pandemic situation, study visas are now open. For the next academic year, the government scholarship is now open for application.

 “And I must say Chinese scholarship opportunities have been really underused in The Bahamas. So now I want to say every year we have government scholarships, and we can have up to like 15 or even more students,” she said.

 Ambassador Dai Qingli also said she hopes to see more involvement in sports that are popular in both China and The Bahamas such as dragon boat racing, Kung Fu and table tennis, for which a major tournament will be held this month.

 She added that though no major announcements have been made about any Chinese companies partnering with The Bahamas, she foresees a change in that.

 “Chinese companies have shown a lot of interest in the Bahamian market. Now, in the post-COVID time, some companies did make inquiries, and some are following the projects announced by The Bahamas government. The government announced a range of PPP (public private partnerships) construction projects.

 “Some Chinese companies have told us they are really interested in these projects. So we hope more would come and be able to compete in your market,” she said.

 This year was the 25th anniversary of China-Bahamas diplomatic relations.