PM to have meetings with Chinese President, Premier tomorrow

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will have separate meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang tomorrow.

The Bangladesh prime minister will end her four-day visit to China with holding a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at 4pm (local time) at the Great Hall of the People here.

The meeting is scheduled to last for 40 minutes, sources in the Bangladesh foreign ministry said.

The premier had her last discussions with President of China Xi Jinping in a recent meeting on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The landmark visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Bangladesh in 2016 has elevated the bilateral relations to the level of “Strategic Partnership of Cooperation”.

The Bangladesh premier will also hold a delegation-level bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 11:15am tomorrow and will last for 45 minutes.

Following the meeting, Bangladesh and China are likely to sign and renew 20 to 22 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs).

“The MoUs on cooperation in the economic and banking sector, trade and investment, digital economy, infrastructure development, assistance in disaster management, construction of 6th and 9th Bangladesh-China friendship bridges, export of agricultural products from Bangladesh and people to people connectivity are likely to be signed,” Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said on Sunday at a curtain raiser press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Bangladesh.

During the visit, Dr Hasan said inauguration of a number of projects of the two countries will also be announced.

In her meetings with Xi Jinping and Li Qiang, the entire gamut of the bilateral relations alongside the regional and international matters will come for discussions.

The issues like Rohingya, cooperation on business, trade, commerce and development will dominate the discussions.

She will later attend a banquet hosted by the Chinese premier at the same venue.

The prime minister on Monday afternoon arrived in Beijing on a four-day bilateral visit at the invitation of her Chinese counterpart.

This is the prime minister’s fourth visit to China (2010, 2014, 2019, and 2024).

The visit is believed to elevate the relations between Bangladesh and China to “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” from “strategic partnership”.

The two countries would celebrate the golden jubilee of the diplomatic relations next year.

This visit of the Bangladesh premier to China is taking place within 15 days after her last visit to India from June 21 to 22.

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman visited China twice, in 1952 and 1957.

He met with great leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou En Lai.

Following his visit, he wrote a book titled “Amar Dekha Naya Chin,” (The New China as I Saw) reflecting his admiration for the Chinese leadership and their policies.