Insights | Bengali delegates wish to learn China's green technologies and enhance climate cooperation

By Lin Zhuowei

(ECNS)—Bengali representatives from different fields shared their thoughts and experiences on their 9-day visit to China at a wrap-up event in Beijing.

The closing ceremony, organized by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, Centre for China Studies (SIIS-DU), and CICG Institute of International Studies and Advanced Training, was part of the Bangladesh Young Leaders Delegation to China Program aimed at facilitating bilateral communication and cooperation.

"During our stay in the last eight or nine days, we embarked on an extraordinary trip that has offered us deep insights into China's educational, cultural, and industrial landscape," said MD Mizanur Rahaman, delegation leader and associate professor of the Department of Microbiology, the University of Dhaka.

The delegation, mainly consisting of scholars from top universities in Bangladesh, visited several Chinese universities, including Yunnan University in South China's Yunnan Province, East China Normal University, and Tongji University in Shanghai.

"I found out that there were a lot of international students from different parts of the world. And they felt like they embraced the Chinese culture and the Chinese way of education so nicely, which was quite inspiring. I would like students from my country to also come and feel at ease at these universities," shared Shehreen Amin Bhuiyan, lecturer at the Department of Public Administration, the University of Dhaka.

Abdullah AL Bashir, a lecturer at the Department of Printmaking of the University of Dhaka, obtained his second master's degree from Yunnan Arts University. Revisiting campus, especially in Yunnan has brought up his good, old memories, as he said, "I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to study in China. And if you want to study, (you should) go to China."

"China is one of the birthplaces of printmaking techniques and I notice there is a gap in the study of printmaking in Bangladesh. So, I would like to apply for a scholarship to pursue a PhD degree in China and write about the woodcut collections to facilitate cultural and art exchanges between the two countries."

Automation technologies and waste management are two of the most impressive aspects of the tour in Shanghai, according to Rizwana Islam, a research associate at the Industry and Physical Infrastructure Division of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies. "The waste management is much better here, which is not done in Bangladesh, and Bangladesh can learn those (Chinese) technologies that are ecologically friendly and economically efficient."

"Bangladesh is now in a climatically vulnerable position, and global warming is seriously affecting our farmlands, industries, and environment," said Islam, echoed by several delegates, emphasizing the importance of climate cooperation between the two countries to jointly cope with the challenge.

Anticipation of collaboration and exchanges was also expressed in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism.

Countries need to overcome differences and take initiatives to get closer to each other, said Zaynul Abedin, assistant professor at the Department of English of the University of Dhaka.

Looking back upon the thousand years of friendly history between the two nations, one determinative factor that sustains the relationship is "the belief and trust in peaceful coexistence", concluded Abedin, adding that he hopes it to last.