Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived here on Tuesday on a four-day visit to hold talks with China’s top leadership, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, to further strengthen bilateral strategic ties.
His separate meetings with Xi and Li on Wednesday will cover the full spectrum of bilateral relations as well as regional and international affairs, according to state-run news agency BSS.
According to the Bangladeshi news agency, this visit of the Bangladesh Prime Minister to China is taking place within 15 days of his last visit to India on June 21-22.
Hasina had her last discussion with President Xi during the recent 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Hasina will also hold a delegation-level bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People. Bangladesh and China may sign and renew 20 to 22 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) after the meeting, the report said.
“MoUs are likely to be signed on cooperation in economic and banking sector, trade and investment, digital economy, infrastructure development, assistance in disaster management, construction of 6th and 9th Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge, export of agricultural products from Bangladesh and people-to-people contact,” Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said at a press conference at Bangladesh Foreign Ministry on Sunday.
Dr. Hassan said that the inauguration of several projects of both the countries would also be announced during the visit.
Issues such as the Rohingya, and cooperation on trade, commerce and development will dominate the discussion.
This is Hasina’s fourth visit to China and the visit is expected to elevate the relationship between Bangladesh and China from “strategic partnership” to “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership”, the report said.
Both countries will celebrate the golden jubilee of their diplomatic relations next year.
Meanwhile, China’s top political adviser Wang Huning met Prime Minister Hasina in Beijing on Tuesday.
Wang, also chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said under the strategic guidance of leaders of the two countries, China and Bangladesh have respected each other and treated each other as equals, setting a good example of friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries.
China is willing to enhance practical cooperation with Bangladesh in various fields and take the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries to a new height so as to better benefit the people of the two countries, Wang was quoted as saying by state news agency Xinhua.
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