Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who arrived in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon by a special flight, said China would try to help Bangladesh resolve the Rohingya crisis.
Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque, who received the Chinese foreign minister at the airport, told this to the newsmen referring to his conversation with the Chinese minister.
Mr Razzaque said they also had discussed issues related to enhancing cooperation in agriculture sector technology and trade.
As Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen was in Cambodia, Dr Razzaque received Mr Wang at the airport. Mr Momen, however, returned home later in the evening.
From the airport, Mr Wang went to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi-32 to pay homage to the father of the nation. Mr Wang is so far the senior most Chinese government official to visit the Bangabandhu Museum.
He will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 9:00 am on Sunday (today) after holding bilateral talks with his Bangladesh counterpart AK Abdul Momen at 7:30 am.
Several memorandums of understanding related to disaster management, cultural cooperation and education are likely to be signed between the two countries.
Meanwhile, the dinner scheduled to be hosted by Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader in honour of the Chinese foreign minister last evening was cancelled at the request of the Chinese side, sources said.
Mr Wang's visit is considered very crucial as his visit coincides with the tension centring US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit, which prompted China to start military exercise circling the island.
Bangladesh in a statement on Thursday made it clear that it stuck to the 'One-China' policy and called on all sides for exercising utmost restraints so that the situation did not deteriorate further.
Earlier on Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said the visit was part of the Chinese side's routine visit to the region and also it was an opportunity to review the existing engagements between the two countries.
He said this when asked about the political significance of the visit taking place in the run up to the prime minister's Delhi visit next month.
In January 2017, Wang Yi had an hour-long stopover in Dhaka.
mirmostafiz@yahoo.com