Dhaka Shifts Port Strategy Away From China, Favors Global Operators
New Delhi, October 25: China's strategy of gaining control over Bangladesh's seaports to build influence in the Bay of Bengal and beyond has been dealt a blow. A report says the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government has given modernisation contracts for the country's ports to other international port operators.
According to an article published on the Brickline news portal, China was slated to develop the Mongla port after a decision taken during Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's visit to Beijing in June. The project envisaged two modern container berths, equipped with advanced machinery and financed with Chinese support, to increase cargo handling at Mongla.
More recently, however, the Chittagong Port Authority signed a 30-year deal with Denmark's Maersk Group. As one of the leading terminal operators globally, Maersk will design, finance, build and run the Laldia Container Terminal at Chittagong under a public-private partnership arrangement.
In the past few years, Dhaka's governments have avoided becoming overly dependent on China by bringing other foreign companies into the development of its seaports. Agreements for the Matarbari port, backed by concessional loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and for the Laldia terminal with Maersk were both signed in 2025 under an interim government.
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had likewise responded to Indian concerns about China's growing commercial and technical presence around Bangladesh's maritime assets. Fearing expanded Chinese influence at strategic points close to India, she refused to approve a deep-sea port at Sonadia built with Chinese help.
The Patenga Container Terminal is the first terminal at Chittagong port run by a foreign firm. Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Gateway Terminal manages it, and it began operations in June 2025.
Chinese companies are currently seeking roles in supplying port equipment at Chittagong, building nearby industrial parks and taking part in upcoming terminal modernisation projects.
Under a government-to-government initiative, construction has started on a Chinese economic and industrial zone covering 800 acres in Anwara, Chittagong. The goal is to bring investment from China and other countries into export-oriented industries.
Indonesia's state-owned PT Pertamina Trans Continental has also received a five-year contract to operate and maintain a facility at Cox's Bazar.
The report says Bangladeshi authorities are now prioritising international companies other than Chinese firms for leasing and operating terminals at Chittagong, the principal centre of the country's export and import trade.
It further notes that a larger Chinese role at Chittagong, through projects like Anwara, would help Beijing's commercial interests. Chinese involvement in Mongla's facilities could support Beijing's position in Bangladesh's garment trade, given that the apparel sector is concentrated in Dhaka and Mongla is closer to the city than Chittagong.
Still, the report argues that controlling Mongla alone would not be sufficient for China to expand its dominance across the Indian Ocean, whether to secure vital global energy routes or to pursue its 'String of Pearls' strategy of encircling India.
Mongla is a river port about 100 kilometres from the sea, the report points out, which makes it unsuitable as a naval base. Chittagong, however, hosts global companies backed by major Western powers in the port and shipping sectors, so China's naval presence there cannot be ignored.
Finally, the report suggests Dhaka appears to want Chinese investment to strengthen the export-based segments of its economy, but without giving China the chance to use its seaports to advance its strategic interests.