China–Bangladesh knowledge exchange: A blueprint for Global South

As global growth slows, protectionism returns and development financing gaps widen, many developing countries face the same question: how can they strengthen their own capacity through knowledge sharing, skills development and cultural exchange?

For countries across the Global South, development depends on more than capital and technology. It also requires stronger institutions, trained people, shared experience and greater understanding between societies.

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China and Bangladesh have built cooperation in all these areas. Over time, their relationship has expanded beyond trade and investment to include education, vocational training, culture and social development.

These people-to-people ties have given the bilateral relationship greater depth and resilience. They also offer broader lessons about how developing countries can learn from one another and pursue growth through mutual respect and partnership.

A long history of exchange

Links between China and the Bengal region stretch back more than a millennium.

Between the fifth and seventh centuries, the Chinese Buddhist monks Faxian and Xuanzang recorded aspects of social and intellectual life in ancient Bengal during their travels in search of Buddhist texts.

In the 11th century, Atisha, the Buddhist scholar born in Vikrampur in present-day Bangladesh, travelled to Tibet and became an influential figure in the development of Tibetan Buddhism. In the 15th century, fleets led by the Chinese admiral Zheng He visited Chittagong, contributing to maritime trade and cultural contact.

These encounters show that relations between the two regions were shaped early on by the movement of people, ideas and knowledge. That history continues to provide a cultural foundation for present-day cooperation.

Historical ties should not be romanticised or used as a substitute for contemporary policy. But they can help explain why education, culture and social exchange remain central to relations between China and Bangladesh.

Education and youth exchanges

Educational cooperation has become one of the most active areas of the modern relationship.

A growing number of Bangladeshi students are studying in China. While medicine and language studies remain popular, students are also moving into fields such as engineering, artificial intelligence, renewable energy and the digital economy.

Chinese government scholarships, university awards and joint training programmes have given more Bangladeshi students access to higher education and research opportunities.

For many, studying in China provides more than a degree. It offers exposure to different industrial systems, research environments and approaches to development. Students who understand both countries can also become important links between their institutions, businesses and communities.

The value of such exchanges, however, depends on their long-term impact. Scholarships and academic programmes are most effective when graduates can apply their knowledge at home, contribute to local institutions and maintain professional networks across borders.

Building skills through vocational education

Vocational training has also become an important part of China–Bangladesh cooperation.

Technical education programmes have helped Bangladeshi students acquire skills in areas such as digital technology, engineering and advanced manufacturing. These initiatives seek to connect training more closely with labour-market and industrial needs.

According to a China Daily report published on 24 November 2024, the Luban Workshop programme had provided degree-level education to more than 20,000 students, vocational training to more than 35,000 participants and instruction to more than 2,200 local teachers across its international partnerships.

Programmes of this kind can improve employability and support industrial development, particularly when they are designed with local employers and educational institutions.

Their broader significance lies in capacity building. Traditional aid can address immediate needs, but education and skills training can help countries develop the human resources required for long-term growth.

For Bangladesh, with its large and youthful population, investment in skills is central to future development. For China, educational cooperation offers a way to share expertise while building longer-term partnerships with other developing countries.

Such programmes must nevertheless be judged by their outcomes. Training should lead to recognised qualifications, decent employment and skills that remain useful as technology changes.

Culture and public understanding

Cultural exchange has also played an important role in strengthening ties.

Chinese cultural exhibitions, arts events and youth programmes in Dhaka have attracted public participation and created opportunities for contact beyond official diplomacy.

Culture is not simply ceremonial. It can reduce misconceptions, widen public understanding and create support for cooperation among people who may otherwise have little direct knowledge of one another.

Artists, students, academics and community organisations can build relationships that are often more durable than formal agreements. These links allow bilateral engagement to extend beyond governments and take root in universities, cultural institutions and local communities.

For cultural exchange to be meaningful, however, it should be reciprocal. Exchanges are strongest when both societies have equal opportunities to present their histories, ideas and traditions.

Learning from different development experiences

China and Bangladesh also have considerable scope to learn from one another.

China has accumulated experience in infrastructure, poverty reduction, rural development and the digital economy. According to the World Bank report Four Decades of Poverty Reduction in China: Drivers, Insights for the World, and the Way Ahead, close to 800 million people in China escaped poverty during the reform period.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, has developed widely studied approaches in microfinance, women’s participation, community healthcare and grassroots development.

The two countries have followed different paths and operate on different economic and political scales. Their policies cannot simply be transferred from one context to another.

That is precisely why knowledge exchange can be valuable. Its purpose should not be to reproduce one country’s model, but to identify useful lessons, test their relevance and adapt them to local circumstances.

Development cooperation is most effective when it recognises differences in institutions, resources and social conditions. Mutual learning should therefore be based on evidence, local participation and respect for national priorities.

New areas for cooperation

There is considerable potential for further cooperation between China and Bangladesh.

Digital skills, green technology, agricultural modernisation, public health, artificial intelligence and youth entrepreneurship are all areas in which education and joint research could support wider development goals.

Universities and vocational institutions could deepen collaboration through joint programmes, faculty exchanges and applied research. Partnerships involving businesses and civil society could help ensure that training responds to real economic and social needs.

Public-health cooperation could focus on workforce training, local service delivery and emergency preparedness. Agricultural partnerships could support productivity, climate resilience and the adoption of technologies suited to local conditions.

The greatest gains are likely to come from programmes that strengthen Bangladeshi institutions rather than create permanent dependence on external expertise.

From exchange to shared development

The experience of China and Bangladesh shows that development cooperation is not limited to finance, infrastructure or trade. It also depends on people, skills, trust and the ability to learn across borders.

Education and cultural exchange can strengthen relationships by creating professional networks and wider public understanding. Vocational training and institutional cooperation can contribute more directly to economic development.

But these benefits are not automatic. Programmes must be transparent, inclusive and responsive to local priorities. Their success should be measured not only by the number of participants, but also by the quality of training, the opportunities created and the lasting capacity built.

In an uncertain international environment, cooperation based on knowledge and mutual learning can offer developing countries a more resilient path forward.

The next stage of China–Bangladesh relations should therefore focus not simply on expanding the number of exchanges, but on improving their quality and long-term impact. Done well, such cooperation can support shared prosperity while offering useful lessons for other countries across the Global South.

Professor He Hongmei is the director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, China.