New Delhi, Oct 25 — China's plan to further its strategic interests in the Bay of Bengal and beyond through gaining control of the seaports in Bangladesh has run into a roadblock with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government awarding contracts to other global port operators to modernise the country’s ports, according to a report.
The article on the Bricklane News portal said that during Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to Beijing last June, it was decided that China would develop the Mongla Port. Two state-of-the-art container jetties equipped with modern machinery would be constructed at Mongla Port under a China-funded project to enhance the handling capacity of the port.
Now in a latest move, the Chittagong Port Authority has entered into an agreement for 30 years with the Maersk Group of Denmark, one of the leading terminal operators of the world, to design, finance, build and operate the Ladia Container Terminal at the Chittagong Port under a public-private-partnership framework.
Lately, successive governments in Dhaka have been avoiding total reliance on China for the development of seaports in Bangladesh by involving other foreign players. Both the agreements for the development of Matarbari Port with concessional loans from Japan Overseas Cooperation Agency and for the development of Ladia Container Terminal in Chittagong with the Maersk Group of Denmark were signed in 2025 when the interim government was in charge.
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had also taken note of the Indian sensibilities against increased Chinese commercial and technical presence at or near maritime assets of Bangladesh due to their strategic proximity to India and had refused to sanction the setting up of a deep seaport at Sonadiah with Chinese assistance.
The Patenga Container Terminal is the first terminal in Chittagong Port to be operated by a foreign firm. Saudi firm Red Sea Gateway Terminal is operating the Patenga terminal, which was commissioned for operations in June 2025.
Chinese firms are currently engaged in supplying port machinery at Chittagong Port, building nearby industrial parks and also positioning themselves for upcoming terminal modernisation projects. The construction of the China Economic and Industrial Zone at Anwara in Chittagong has started on 800 acres under a government-to- government initiative between Bangladesh and China. The plan is to attract investments from China and other countries in export-oriented industries.
Another contract was awarded to state-owned Indonesian firm, PT Pertamina Trans Kontinental, to operate and maintain the facility at Cox’ Bazar for five years. Thus, the authorities in Bangladesh are now preferring other international companies rather than Chinese enterprises for leasing of terminals and terminal operations at Chittagong Port, which is the main base for the export and import trade of Bangladesh, the report observed.
Beijing’s plan to increase its presence in Chittagong through ventures like the Anwara project will serve its commercial interests. China’s presence at Mongla while developing the facilities at the port will help Beijing in its garments trade, with Dhaka being the hub of the garment industry in Bangladesh. Mongla Port is closer to Dhaka than the Chittagong Port.
However, for the extension of Chinese hegemony in the Indian Ocean region to control key shipping routes for global energy supplies or for the promotion of its ‘string of pearls’ strategy of surrounding India, the control of Mongla Port will not be sufficient. Mongla, being a river port situated about 100 km from the sea, is not suitable as a naval hub. And at Chittagong, with the presence of global players in port and shipping, backed by major Western powers, a Chinese naval presence will not go unnoticed, the report pointed out.
The approach of the government in Dhaka thus appears to be one of encouraging Chinese investments to strengthen the export-led sector of the Bangladesh economy while denying Beijing the opportunity of using the seaports of the country to promote its strategic interests, the report added.