Chinese media report PM Hasina’s visit to China elevates bilateral ties 

Different Chinese media reported that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to China elevated bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

Almost all leading media published reports on the visit.

Beijing-based English-language news channel of state-run China Global Television Network CGTN in a report mentioned that China and Bangladesh on Wednesday elevated their relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was on an official visit to China, announced the upgrade during a meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

In the meeting, Xi noted that China and Bangladesh are close and friendly neighbours whose friendly exchanges date back over a thousand years.

He said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1975, the two countries have always shown mutual respect and support, treated each other on an equal footing and engaged in win-win cooperation.

This has set a good example of friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries, especially between Global South countries, Xi said.

He said China is ready to take the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year as an opportunity to deepen the high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), expand cooperation across the board in intensity and reach, and advance the sound and steady development of the China-Bangladesh comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

Xi emphasised that the two sides should carry forward the fine tradition of mutual support and deepen political mutual trust.

China supports Bangladesh in adhering to an independent foreign policy, taking the path of development in line with its own national conditions, safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and opposing any external interference, he said.

China is ready to carry out exchanges with Bangladesh in party and state governance experience and development policies, strengthen the alignment of development strategies between the two sides, and deepen cooperation in trade, investment and interconnectivity, said Xi.

He said China also supports more Chinese businesses in strengthening industrial investment cooperation with Bangladesh, promoting the development of industrial and supply chains between the two countries and helping Bangladesh with its national development.

The CGTN report mentioned that Xi urged the two sides to make efforts for the Year of People-to-People Exchanges between China and Bangladesh next year to promote exchanges and cooperation in fields such as culture, tourism, media and sports.

CGTN made another report on a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Beijing. 

In the meeting, China and Bangladesh announced the completion of the joint feasibility study on a China-Bangladesh free-trade agreement on Wednesday and the two sides also agreed to start negotiations on upgrading the bilateral investment agreement.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents on policy exchange, economy, trade and investment, digital economy, inspection and quarantine, health care, education and media, and agreed to designate 2025 as the China-Bangladesh People-to-People Exchange Year.

During the meeting, Li and Hasina pledged to strengthen bilateral cooperation in various fields.

The People’s Daily published a report with the headline “China, Bangladesh elevate ties, broaden cooperation”.

In the report, experts’ opinions have been mentioned. Experts described Hasina’s visit to China as a journey of cooperation and friendship. 
Experts said the development of China-Bangladesh ties does not target any third party, and will be conducive to overall peace and stability in South Asia.

The Global Times a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, the People’s Daily also published reports on the visit.

It also mentioned opinions of experts in its reports on the visit. 

Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, said the visit by Hasina is a link between the past and the future for bilateral relations, especially in promoting high-level cooperation in the field of economy and trade.

The development strategies of the two countries will be further synergized, and more economic and trade cooperation projects are expected to be implemented in the future, injecting more substantive connotations into the duo’s strategic cooperative relations, Qian said.

The pragmatic cooperation between the two countries is an illustration for more South Asian countries to understand China’s concept of good-neighbourly friendship, the idea of sharing the fruits of development, and the image of China as a responsible major power, Qian said.

The development of China-Bangladesh relations does not target any third party, said Qian, noting that China always opposes zero-sum game and stands for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Against the backdrop of complex geopolitics, China respects Bangladesh’s strategic choice and has no objection to Bangladesh developing friendly and cooperative relations with other countries, Qian said.

Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow with the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said “Hasina’s visit to China will further promote the traditional friendship between the two countries”. 

Through cooperation over the past years, Bangladesh has clearly seen how China’s development ideas and experience have played a huge role in promoting the economic and social development of Bangladesh, Hu said.

“Specifically, the economic and technical assistance of Chinese enterprises in Bangladesh’s infrastructure construction, China’s assistance in training local medical and health professionals in Bangladesh, and the increase in the scale of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries,” Hu added.

Hong Kong-based private media South China Morning Post published a report of Kawala Xie, a journalist having specialization in Asia affairs.
With the headline “China and Bangladesh pledge to fight external interference and boost economic cooperation”, it is mention in the report that President Xi Jinping said Beijing is willing to upgrade diplomatic ties in a meeting with visiting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

On Tuesday, Sheikh Hasina met Jin Liqun, president of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, to ask for the country’s interest payments to be reduced.

Separately on Tuesday, she met Wang Huning, the No 4 in China’s political hierarchy, to ask for help in repatriating Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar.

Nearly one million of Rohingyas have been living in Bangladesh since they were forced to flee a violent crackdown in 2017, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Wang told Sheikh Hasina that China will make the “highest efforts” to resolve the issue, including talks with Myanmar’s ruling junta.