Dhaka, February 19:

China emerged as the number one import source for Bangladesh, beating India for the first time, The Daily Star reported today.

Bangladeshi imports from China amounted to $494.5 million during July-September period of the current fiscal, against $416.6 million imports from India during the same period, according to the statistics of Chief Controller of Import and Export (CCIF). “China is set to dominate Bangladesh market as the importers here are shifting from India,” a top commerce ministry official was quoted as saying.

Textile fabrics, capital machinery and dyeing chemicals are some of the major items that helped China become the top source of Bangladesh’s imports in the first three months of the 2005-06 fiscal. Bangladesh imported textile products worth $254.5 million from China, while imports from India were worth $81 million during the period. China exported capital machinery worth $101.5 million, while imports from India were $51.5 million. Besides, dyeing chemicals worth $57.5 million were imported from China against $38.9 million from India.