PM’s visit: China seeks comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina shakes hand with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Johannesburg on 23 August, 2023File photo

Bangladesh and China elevated their bilateral relations to “strategic partnership” from trade and economic cooperation when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Dhaka eight years ago.

Bangladesh also joined the country’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the main enterprise of China’s foreign and strategic policies, at that time as well.

This time China is keen to elevate the relations to another level, to comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Beijing in the second week of July.

This is likely to be reflected in the joint statement that would be issued after the formal meeting of the two sides during the visit of the prime minister.

Diplomatic sources said several years ago the government took a coordinated initiative to implement development infrastructures centering the Matarbari deep sea port after joining Japan’s Initiative of BIG-B (The Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt).

They further said in the same way the government is moving ahead with an initiative to a coordinated infrastructural development (CD) centering the deep sea port at Payra in the southern region of the country. Bangladesh seeks China to be the main partner in the implementation of the CD.

This issue will get special attention during the prime minister’s visit to China, the diplomatic sources added.

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A highly placed source in the government said Bangladesh’s expectations in this regard have been conveyed to various levels of Beijing over the last month.

Apart from this, financial assistance to meet the budget deficit and financing new projects would be prioritised during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to China, scheduled to begin from 8 July.

I think the proposal to engage China in the development initiative centring the Payra sea port is an effort to maintain balance. Bangladesh has engaged Japan, one of the main allies of the US, in the Matarbari project

Security expert and BIPSS president Maj. Gen. (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman

A delegation of China’s EXIM Bank is currently visiting Bangladesh for last-minute discussions on proposed loans to meet the budget deficit and financing new projects, relevant government officials confirmed this correspondent.

Speaking about the preparations for the prime minister’s visit to China, foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen said, “The discussion between the two sides is going on until now. Currently a delegation from China is visiting Bangladesh. We have been going through the matters regarding taking budget assistance from China alongside taking assistance through other processes.”

From strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership

The relation between the two countries was elevated to “strategic partnership” level when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Dhaka in 2016. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed regarding Bangladesh’s joining the Belt and Road Initiative.

At the same time, decisions were made about China’s debt and financing several mega projects in Bangladesh.

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