United News of Bangladesh

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Monday afternoon left Dhaka for China to discuss a wide range of issues and ways to strengthen Dhaka's economic partnership with Beijing. China has already invited Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus to pay an official visit to Beijing in March this year with Dhaka seeing it positively, said a diplomatic source. Bangladesh and China are preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2025. Adviser Hossain is paying the visit at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in what is  described as “very important first bilateral visit” after the formation of the interim government led by Nobel Laureate Dr Yunus in August last year. He will have engagements with Chinese officials on January 21-23. He is scheduled to return home on January 24. Bangladesh is likely to request China to lower loan interest rates, extend repayment terms by 30 years and waive commitment fees to bolster economic cooperation. Deeper ties with Russia sought in meeting with new ambassador The issues along with budget support will come up in a big way during Hossain's visit. "...all economic issues will come up for discussion. Some issues are very important. Bangladesh's trade and economic relations with China are very important," the adviser said while talking to reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week. He said they will discuss budgetary support, explore China's assistance, expedite loan disbursement for Bangladeshi projects, and seek a full withdrawal of the commitment fee. A commitment fee in China is a charge made by a lender to a borrower for keeping a line of credit available. Bangladesh sees Hossain’s maiden bilateral visit to China as a “great opportunity” to further strengthen and deepen the bilateral relations with Beijing giving an outline for the future cooperation. Asked about the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the adviser said there are some issues that will continue to be discussed with a positive approach and noted that Bangladesh’s relationship with China is not just government-specific. The GDI is a multilateral development initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2021.

China on Sunday conveyed to Bangladesh that they are ready to sign "implementation plan" on exchange of hydrological information with Bangladesh which was previously sent by the Bangladesh side. Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen met Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and informed him that the Chinese side is ready to sign this document during the bilateral visit of Adviser Hossain to China. The Ambassador also apprised the Foreign Adviser that China is "seriously considering" to lower down its interest rates for Bangladesh. The Chinese Ambassador said that China "will do everything" for the benefit of the people of Bangladesh. During the meeting, the Chinese Ambassador briefed the Adviser regarding his first ever upcoming bilateral visit to China scheduled to take place on January 20-24, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ‘Will lead consensus-building commission’, Dr Yunus tells Australian envoy Both sides hoped that the upcoming visit of Foreign Adviser to China will open up a new chapter of cooperation between the two friendly countries. The Ambassador touched upon the issues to be discussed during the official talks led by the Foreign Adviser of Bangladesh and his Chinese counterpart. While highlighting the importance of the visit, the Ambassador informed the Adviser that the people of his country are eagerly waiting to welcome the Foreign Adviser to China. China is the all-weather, time-tested friend of Bangladesh which firmly stands with the people of Bangladesh irrespective of its government, he said. He reaffirmed that China respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bangladesh and reiterated that China would continue its support for the stability, reforms and democratic transition and development initiatives of Bangladesh. Standing beside Bangladesh with the spirit of good friend and neighborhood, China said it will continue its support for the early repatriation of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (FDMN) to their motherland in Myanmar. Shedding light on the importance of making roadmap for the repatriation of the FDMN (The Rohingyas) to Myanmar, the Foreign Adviser said that Bangladesh expects China to play a very strong and proactive role helping Bangladesh for the repatriation of the FDMN (The Rohingyas) to Myanmar. Referring to the bilateral relations with China, the Foreign Adviser reiterated that Bangladesh always supports ‘One China Principle’ and in the eve of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and China, this visit will strengthen deep understanding , friendship, and vibrant partnership  advancing the strategic as well as technical cooperation between the two nations. The Foreign Adviser said that Bangladesh appreciates 100% Duty Free Quota Free market access of Bangladeshi products to China and expressed his hope that this market access would continue till 2029 (after the post-LDC period for 03 years). Russian Ambassador reaffirms support for stronger Bangladesh-Russia ties In response, the Ambassador said that along with mangoes, this year Bangladeshi guava and jackfruits will also have the market access to China. The Adviser asked for Chinese high tech energy efficient supports for developing fruits storage and preservation capacity in Bangladesh. He also underscored the importance of expanding bilateral cooperation in various sections. The Adviser sought Chinese support for adding up more railway coaches for the passengers under capacity building initiatives of Bangladesh Railways. Referring to the importance of cooperation in health sector, the Foreign Affairs Adviser mentioned that Bangladesh is ready to provide land and other logistics for setting-up a full-fledged tertiary level Chinese hospital in Purbachal and also requested China to designate at least three to four top notch hospitals in Kunming so that Bangladesh nationals can go there and get better treatment. The Foreign Adviser thanked China for their engagements with the development initiatives of Bangladesh and expressed his hope that the injured students will soon get their treatment in China.