Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, second from right, and her delegation attend a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on July 10, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met President Xi Jinping and her Chinese counterpart Li Qiang in Beijing on July 10 as the two countries signed 21 agreements, MoUs and announced seven more projects to further elevate their strategic cooperative ties.

During the meetings, both countries agreed to elevate their “strategic partnership” to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership,” Bangladesh’s state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reported.

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China will help Bangladesh economically in four ways by giving grants, interest-free loans, concessional loans and commercial loans, the Chinese President said during the bilateral meeting with Ms. Hasina, it said.

Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Bangladesh’s State Minister at the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications & Information Technology posted a photo of the two leaders’ meeting on X and said, “Hon’ble President of China, H E Mr Xi Jinping met and held a bilateral meeting with the Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday.”

Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud briefed the newsmen about the outcome of the meeting between the two leaders and described it as: “A very successful discussion was held between the two leaders in a very cordial environment.”

Giving out details about the Li-Hasina meeting, BSS said the agreements were inked in the presence of Ms. Hasina and Mr. Li after the delegation-level talks between the two countries.

Earlier, the Bangladesh Prime Minister was accorded a red carpet reception and greeted by Premier Li as she reached for the bilateral meeting.

The bilateral talks mainly featured the Rohingya issue, business, trade and commerce, investments, and bilateral relations alongside various regional and international matters.

The instruments 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 were signed, the BSS report said.

Beijing:

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived here on Tuesday on a four-day visit for talks with China’s top leadership, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang to further cement the bilateral strategic ties.

In her separate meetings with Xi and Li on Wednesday, the entire gamut of the bilateral relations alongside the regional and international matters will come for discussion, the official BSS news agency reported.

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, the Bangladeshi news agency reported.

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

Hasina will also hold a delegation-level bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People. Following the meeting, Bangladesh and China are likely to sign and renew 20 to 22 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), the report said.

“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 the inauguration of several projects of the two countries will also be announced.

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

This is Hasina’s fourth visit to China and the trip is expected to elevate the relations between Bangladesh and China to “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” from “strategic partnership”, the report said.

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

Meanwhile, China’s top political advisor Wang Huning met with Prime Minister Hasina on Tuesday in Beijing.

Wang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said that under the strategic guidance of the two countries’ leaders, China and Bangladesh have respected and treated each other with equality, setting a good example of friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries.

China is ready to deepen practical cooperation with Bangladesh in various fields, and push the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries to a new height, to better benefit the two peoples, Wang was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)