A lot of bilateral cooperation agreements may be signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's likely China tour on July 8-11 at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, a visiting Chinese leader said Monday.
Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud informed the press about the tentative timing of the prime minister's state visit after his meeting with Liu Jianchao, who is Head of International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Talking to the reporters after the meeting Mr Liu, ranked as minister, reiterated China's commitment to assisting Bangladesh in implementing its development visions.
"We do sign agreements and, you know, we promise and we deliver," the Chinese leader told the reporters as various
aspects of China's development assistance and projects here came up for a press scrutiny.
Responding to a question he said that, during the upcoming visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to China, a lot of agreements will be signed in different areas of interaction.
He wouldn't mention the specific number of accords at this stage of spadework from both sides. He said still both sides are working on this.
"We are very much looking forward to the visit by the honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh to China in about two weeks.
"I'm sure that our governments and government agencies will work out the general plan for the cooperation between our two countries in the time to come," he told the journalists.
Recalling a 50-year-long warm friendship between the two countries, the senior Chinese diplomat and politician said China, with strong enthusiasm and interest, is working with Bangladesh in its drive for prosperity.
For example, he cited the 'Vision 2041' and also the goal of achieving a 'Smart Bangladesh' as bigger vistas of cooperation.
China has been working very hard for its modernisation drive so both the countries have a lot in common to work on, said Mr Liu, also a former spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry.
"So we can work in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture, investments, manufacturing, and also trade, of course."
He thinks the forthcoming visit by the Bangladesh Prime Minister is going to be "very fruitful". "And China remains the friend as a neighbour and a partner for your modernisation drive."
He said China will support Bangladesh's development spree within the framework of President Xi Jinping's 'Belt and Road Initiative', and it will continue to do that for the common prosperity of Asia and the world.
"And Bangladesh to us is a perfect friend, and we are firm in our collaboration, so we also touch upon some regional and international issues. We do have very identical views on most of the issues," he pointed out the common ground of action.
About the interactions of the CPC with the ruling Awami League he said, "We also stress the interactions between the political parties in our two countries. Here, the leading party is the AL, and in China, the leading party is the Communist Party of China.
"We do believe that the government policies originate from party lines. So we believe that the kinds of interactions between the political parties would be very useful in helping our people to understand better each other, and also helping the governments to formulate policies towards each other."
He makes it clear that such interactions are important and this is a process of mutual learning. "So we do want to share your experiences and, of course, Communist Party is also ready to share our experiences with you for the common good of our peoples."
Asked about the Rohingya issue Bangladesh burdened with, and Beijing plays the go-between for a solution, he say China does appreciate the very humanitarianism displayed by the Bangladesh government.
"We know how hard this issue is or how difficult it is, and, you know, this can become even more difficult in the future," he told the media, adding that China has and will continue to play a role in pursuing a solution to this problem by working with different parties.
China has an important contribution to the development of Bangladesh and they hope that this contribution will further be enhanced during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The foreign minister said their discussion focused on various issues, including ways and means to reduce a huge trade imbalance with China.
"Our import from China is around 13 billion US dollars whereas our export to China is less than one billion dollars," he said, adding that he urged China to import items like pharmaceuticals, ceramics, leather etc.
The minister also sought China's support in repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar's Rakhine state where from they were cleaned out.
"We have also discussed the Gaza issue and we expect that China will play active role in resolving this crisis."
The foreign minister also mentioned that Bangladesh wants to be a member of the Beijing-broached BRICS grouping and he sought China's strong support in this regard.
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