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

China also said it is willing to take the 50th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations next year as an opportunity to deepen the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road projects among other things, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Among the new projects announced were the Conclusion of Joint Feasibility Study on China-Bangladesh Free Trade Agreement and Commencement of Negotiation on the Optimisation of China-Bangladesh Bilateral Investment Treaty.

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 reported.

“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 Hasina,” it said.

Xinhua said China supports Bangladesh in adhering to an independent foreign policy, taking a development path that suits its national conditions, safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and opposing any interference.

Foreign minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, while briefing newspersons about the outcome of the meeting, said the Xi agreed for a technical committee from both the countries to sit together to decide how the four types of financial assistance will be given to Bangladesh to support its development.

Mahmud said Xi raised the Rohingya issue well before Hasina mentioned it and said, “Xi Jinping promised to play an important role in resolving the Rohingya problem by holding talks with the Myanmar government and Arakan army.” The two sides should hold the China-Bangladesh Year of People-to-People Exchange next year to promote exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, tourism, media, sports and other fields between the two countries.

PTI