China to sign economic pact with Bangladesh

DHAKA - Bangladesh and China will sign an economic cooperation pact during the visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, a Bangladeshi official said Monday.

Xi, who arrived here Monday on a two-day official visit, is making a “return visit” to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s March trip to China and will see updating on the pacts signed then.

This is the first visit by a Chinese leader since the Awami League-led government assumed power in January last year.

The Chinese vice president is leading a 35-member delegation and will sign an agreement regarding economic cooperation, under which China will provide 40 million yuan ($5.8 million) as a grant.

Over the past few years, China has replaced India as Bangladesh’s biggest import destination with bilateral trade between the two nations standing at US$ 4.58 billion, though heavily skewed in favour of Beijing with Bangladesh imports being US$ 4.4 billion.

Last month, China offered duty-free access to some 5,000 Bangladeshi products in a “goodwill gesture”.

China had opposed Bangladesh’s 1971 separation from Pakistan and recognised the new nation only in October 4, 1975. However, it has now emerged as the largest supplier of military hardware, besides a large number of commodities, to Bangladesh.