China is willing to work with the international community to continue advancing the high-quality building of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to help with global economic recovery and sustainable development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday.
In response to a request for a comment on Bangladeshi leaders hailing China for the BRI and helping improve the ecological environment of Bangladesh as well as the living standards of the local people at a daily press briefing, Mao said it is another example of the BRI benefiting partner countries.
Since its proposal 10 years ago, the BRI has created 420,000 jobs for partner countries and lifted nearly 40 million people out of poverty, Mao said.
According to a World Bank report, the joint construction of the BRI will increase participating countries' trade between 2.7% and 9.7%, global trade between 1.7% and 6.2%, and global income by 0.7 to 2.9 percent, she said.
The Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant in Bangladesh, which was funded by China and built by Chinese enterprises, was inaugurated at a ceremony on July 13.
Hundreds of guests attended the event, including Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen and Bangladeshi Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Md Tazul Islam.
The Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant, financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and constructed by PowerChina Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited, is the first large-scale modern sewage treatment plant in Bangladesh.
The project's construction provided over 1,000 job opportunities for local people and significantly stimulated local trade, including the supply of materials and equipment. Its completion will provide modern sewerage service to about 5 million people in Dhaka.
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(With input from Xinhua)
(Cover: An aerial photo of the Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 24, 2022. /Xinhua)