We publish today an opinion piece from Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas Hu Shan.  We recommend that you read it.  Hu lays out in detail the current Bahamas-China relationship.  He also sets out the areas of cooperation under consideration between the two countries.
According to the statistics of the Chinese General Administration of Customs presented by Hu, the bilateral trade volumes between China and The Bahamas for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 were $180 million, $385 million, $423 million and $628 million, respectively, up by 9.8 percent, 113 percent, 9.5 percent and 48.5 percent year-on-year.
That significant growth in trade between the countries speaks well for The Bahamas.  China is the second largest economy in the world and if the current trends continue, it will surpass the United States as the largest economy in the world in a few decades.
Since the then Ingraham administration recognized China in the 1990s, the relationship between the countries has blossomed to the highs mentioned by Hu.
The Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium was a $30 million gift from China.  A $58 million loan from China is financing the Airport Gateway Project - a highway from the airport to Thompson Boulevard.  The Export-Import Bank of China has extended a $2.45 billion loan to finance the Baha Mar project, with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation investing $150 million in to Baha Mar.  China is also lending the money for, and working on, infrastructure projects on various Family Islands.
And according to Hu, the Bahamian side wishes to see Chinese commercial banks set up branches in The Bahamas.
China is also seeking to invest much more in The Bahamas.  A memorandum of understanding was signed between the countries on agricultural cooperation in February 2009.
"Experts, engineers and market researchers from the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences and some Chinese enterprises have paid an on-the-spot inspection in The Bahamas," said Hu.  "Some enterprises expect to develop agriculture here.  Some have even submitted investment cooperation plans to the Bahamian government."
China is a focused country.  It operates on five-year plans and it evaluates its success in reaching the goals set out in those plans.  Its growth and power are not accidental.
China is seeking to invest the large sums of money it sits on and it wants the best return possible.  As The Bahamas gets increasingly involved with China it must negotiate from a position of strength.  The Bahamas should welcome investment.  However, when China invests it must not be allowed to lend the money, build the project, use its labor exclusively and own it too.  The guiding principle in our relationship with China must be the advancement of the Bahamian people, Bahamian business and the Bahamian government.
China is not investing in The Bahamas just because it likes us.  China wants a good return on its money.  It also wants to employ its people and sell its goods to us, as it should.  Our leaders should learn from the Chinese and be as committed to advancing Bahamian interests as China is in advancing Chinese interests.
Hu also discussed some other major areas of interest for China.
"As for agriculture and fisheries, The Bahamas is not yet able to realize self-sufficiency in grain currently.  However, there's some quite good arable land lying idle on some of its islands.  Chinese enterprises can come over to develop livestock and poultry as well as vegetable farms.  They can also explore the possibility of developing aquatic products on these islands."
We fear that our policy to China is just, "yes thank you".  Hu set out publicly his country's relationship with and plans for The Bahamas.  We hope that our government has, somewhere, as detailed a policy document to ensure that Bahamian interests are being advanced in every step of this intimate dance with China.
 
 
 

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