The Chinese companies trading in Bangladesh (BD) are said to be engaged in tax evasion and smuggling of items ranging from cigarettes to alcohol This unscrupulous behaviour is causing heavy loss to the B’desh exchequer.

In the latest incident, the BD authorities seized a container imported by Chinese company, ‘Zong Sine Textile Industries Limited’. The declared item in the container was textile dye stuff but it was filled with around 900 packages of foreign cigarettes which could have yielded a revenue of around Tk. 7 crore in local currency to the government.

This is not the first time that foreign brand cigarettes have been smuggled into Bangladesh. This February, Tianye Outdoor (BD) Co Ltd (TOCL), a subsidiary of Chinese company Comefly Outdoor Co Ltd was found to be involved in tax evasion and tax fraud to the tune of Taka 21 crore.During routine inspection, officials recovered high duty foreign cigarettes from a consignments which had been declared as cotton yarn from China.

In July, a major Chinese consignment containing over 2700 cartons of foreign liquor was confiscated on the Chittagong-Dhaka highway. This prevented revenue loss of around Tk. 60 to 70 crore.

In May, the law enforcement agencies recovered 19 tonnes (788 packets) of Sodium Cyclamate (SC), concealed under the label of Soda Ash Light. The consignment originated from CNTAO Qingado Port and arrived in Chittagong. This prodcut is 30 to 50 times sweeter than the ordinary ssugar and its consumption increase cancer risk.

The dawn of new year 2022 saw Chinese Digi Anti Fake Company supply counterfeit bandrolls (a thin ribbon wrapped on bidi and cigarette packets) resulting in tax evasion of Taka 250 crore. The company was also found involved in printing counterfeit Bangladeshi passports, ballot papers, national identity cards, and birth registration certificates.

Chinese companies suffer from a poor image of corporate ethics. There is always a question mark on their integrity. The multilateral financial institutions, especially the World Bank, are also keeping an eye on their functioning.

• from Asian Age, Dhaka