Bangladesh Foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain today departed for China on a 5-day state visit aiming to forge a new dimension of Dhaka-Beijing relations. The five-day official visit will focus on lowering interest rates on loans, exchanging hydrological information, advancing medical treatment cooperation, and encouraging greater Chinese involvement in resolving the Myanmar situation, reports Bangladesh Sanghbad Sangstha (BSS).
Touhid is set to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesperson Muhammad Rafiqul Alam told media during the weekly briefing in Dhaka on Thursday.
Earlier on Sunday the Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka Yao Wen briefed the foreign adviser on key issues for the visit. Wen also hinted that Beijing is ready to sign an implementation plan on hydrological information exchange, fulfilling a previous request from Dhaka, reports BSS.
Beyond official talks with the Chinese foreign minister, the adviser is scheduled to meet with Chinese Communist Party leaders and deliver speeches at the China Institute of International Studies and the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, apart from engaging with business representatives in Shanghai to attract Chinese investments in Bangladesh, according to foreign ministry officials, reports BSS.
The adviser’s visit would focus on economic cooperation, commerce and trade expansion and a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis among others, said Rafiqul.
Both the countries were going to celebrate the 50 years of their diplomatic relations this year, he said, adding that although the amount of trade between the two countries stood at $25 billion, it was heavily tilted to China.
He said that the visit would be very crucial since the bilateral relations between China and Bangladesh was already elevated to ‘comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
Rafiqul said that the adviser would also hold a meeting with a business community of Shanghai for increasing China’s investment in Bangladesh.
