SHANGHAI - China Communications Construction Corp (CCCC) said it had won a $705 million contract to build an underwater tunnel below the Karnaphuli river in south-eastern Bangladesh. The Bangladesh road transport and bridges ministry and state-owned CCCC have signed a deal to build the over three kilometre-long, multi-lane tunnel in the sea port city of Chittagong, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. CCCC confirmed the contract win in an email to Reuters. China has been encouraging its firms to hunt for deals overseas, especially in the realm of infrastructure, to support a wider Beijing-led push to improve the country’s trade and transport links with Europe and Asia. A memorandum of understanding for the tunnel’s construction was first signed in June last year during Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to China.