Bangladesh and China on Thursday signed 13 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) covering various areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The MoUs were signed following bilateral talks between Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, focusing on Bangladesh-China relations, trade, investment, infrastructure development and other issues of mutual interest.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman led the Bangladesh delegation while Premier Li Qiang headed the Chinese side during the talks.
The signing of the MoUs is expected to elevate bilateral cooperation between the two countries to a new level.
The MoUs were signed by Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman, Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon, and two senior Bangladeshi officials.
Briefing reporters in the evening at the Fang Fei Hall of Diaoyutai Hotel, Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Spokesperson Mahdi Amin said the agreements cover a number of aeras, including investment cooperation, trade expansion, human resource development, education, health and media collaboration.
Investment cooperation, promotion of green development, and the formulation of joint action plans to strengthen bilateral collaboration have also been covered, he said. “The discussions also focused on enhancing Bangladesh’s export capacity to increase shipments to the Chinese market, as well as expanding development cooperation in various sectors,” he said.
Mahdi Amin noted that both sides discussed ways to improve the terms of Chinese concessional loans to Bangladesh, including the possibility of lowering interest rates and extending grace periods.
“MoUs were also signed under the framework of the Global Development Initiative (GDI), covering cooperation in health, education, manpower capacity building, and other development-related areas aimed at strengthening institutional and human resource capacities,” he added.
A different cooperation plan on human resource development was also signed, while another MoU was concluded to facilitate the export of Bangladesh's national fruit, jackfruit, to China, the PMO spokesperson added.