CHINESE President Xi Jinping expressed his country’s willingness to step up cooperation in different sectors with Bangladesh as he meet Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheik Hasina during the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit.
Xi urged both countries to step up cooperation in infrastructure, information technology, new energy, and agriculture, among other areas.
The Chinese president also expressed China’s support in safeguarding the national sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Bangladesh as well as in opposing external interference to maintain domestic unity and stability.
Bangladesh is among the 150 other countries that have joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative, with three projects on the verge of completion while six other projects are either underway or waiting to start.
Sheikh Hasina congratulated Xi on the 10th Anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, saying it has opened a new door of development, adding that Dhaka has avoided any ‘debt trap’ with the help of Chinese funding and assistance.
Xi’s state visit to Bangladesh in 2016 became a milestone in bilateral ties as it upgraded their relations to a strategic cooperative partnership.
China and Bangladesh have been on a strategic partnership since 2016 while Beijing has emerged as Dhaka’s largest trading partner and one of its biggest providers of development assistance in recent years.
