Abul Hasan Chowdhury, former minister of foreign affairs, told Xinhua that China’s economic transformation in the past decade has been rapid and impressive, offering many lessons for countries like Bangladesh.

China’s rise “over the last decade is one of the most striking examples of the impact of opening an economy up to global markets,” he said.

Chowdhury noted that China’s development in infrastructure construction such as highways and high-speed railways has outstripped many developed countries.

“I think China changes every month with eye-catching infrastructures. Every time I visited China, I saw something new in infrastructure construction that actually leaves a great impression on people across the world,” he said.

China has been flourishing and continuing its efforts to help people forge ahead toward a better-off life.

China’s new initiatives like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road Initiative in a bid to build a community with a shared future for humanity will surely benefit all countries and regions, he said.

Chowdhury lauded the rapid pace of economic reforms in China.

“China has undergone a big shift from a largely agrarian society to an industrial powerhouse,” he said, adding that China made remarkable efforts in expanding its own domestic demand instead of relying on its exports to drive growth.

“China is now a more balanced economy as a result of many structural reforms, policy shifts and poverty alleviation successes,” he said.