Prime minister Sheikh Hasina is set to hold bilateral talks with the China鈥檚 premier of the State Council, Li Qiang, and a separate meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing today with Dhaka鈥檚 proposals for economic cooperation as well as China鈥檚 support for repatriation of Rohingyas high on her agenda.
She is scheduled to hold the meetings with the Chinese leaders at the Great Hall of the People in the morning where at least 20 to 22 memorandums of understanding on cooperation in various areas, including the economic and banking sectors, infrastructure development, trade and investment, and the digital economy, are likely to be signed, according to officials concerned.
Bangladesh was likely to seek China鈥檚 financial assistance amid pressure on its foreign currency reserves, the officials said.
鈥楥hina鈥檚 cooperation in development and their聽 support for repatriation of Rohingya to Myanmar would get priority from our side in the bilateral talks,鈥� foreign minister Hasan Mahmud told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday.
He said that China had already played an important role in the country鈥檚 infrastructure development.
Bangladesh could not send a single Rohingya after the 2017 exodus amid military crackdown on the ethnic minority group in their Rakhine State by the Myanmar authorities, raising the number of forcefully displaced people sheltered here to about 11 lakh.
鈥業conic structures like Padma Bridge and Bangabandhu Tunnel besides many other bridges and rail line projects have been completed with the support of China,鈥� the foreign minister said, adding that development issues will be focused there in the bilateral talks to be attended by high-level delegations from both sides.
He said that Dhaka would also raise the issue of reducing the wide trade gap between China and Bangladesh.
About the change in the schedule of the prime minister who arrived in Beijing on Monday on a four-day visit, Hasan Mahmud said that the prime minister would leave for Dhaka on Wednesday night instead of Thursday morning since she did not have any events on the day.
This is Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 6th visit to China, he mentioned.
At a press conference in Dhaka on the prime minister鈥檚 visit to China, the foreign minister earlier on Sunday said that no treaties but 20 to 22 MoUs on cooperation in various areas were likely to be singed following the bilateral talks in Beijing on June 10.
Asked whether the Teesta project issue would be discussed during the bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart in Beijing, the minister said that it might be discussed if the Chinese side raised the issue.
Addressing a press conference on her India visit from June 21 to 22, Sheikh Hasina said in Dhaka on June 25 that it would be easy for Bangladesh if the Teesta restoration project received support from India.
Beijing and New Delhi are already on a collision course after India鈥檚 latest proposal to finance the Teesta restoration and management project.
China has already offered both financial and technical support for the project after conducting a feasibility study.
Bangladesh鈥檚 finance minister, foreign minister, prime minister鈥檚 private industry and investment adviser, and state ministers for commerce, energy, information and communication technology, along with a business delegation and senior officials concerned, are accompanying Hasina during the visit.
鈥楾he MoUs on cooperation in the economic and banking sector, trade and investment, digital economy, infrastructure development, assistance in disaster management, construction of the sixth and ninth Bangladesh-China friendship bridges, export of agricultural products from Bangladesh, and people-to-people connectivity are likely to be signed during the visit,鈥� the foreign minister said.
Hasan, however, said that no loan agreement would be signed and no specific amount of financial assistance would be sought in the bilateral talks.
鈥楾here will be no loan deals. We will only sign MoUs on economic cooperation. Once all parameters are met, we will seek assistance in the finance and banking sectors as per our needs based on that MoU,鈥� said Hasan in Dhaka.
Bangladesh is currently facing a severe dollar crisis, with foreign exchange reserves dropping to $26.81 billion in June this year from $46.15 billion in December 2021, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
According to the balance of payments and international investment position manual, the country鈥檚 foreign exchange reserves were $21.78 billion at the end of June.
The reserve improved slightly in June after the International Monetary Fund released $1.152 for Bangladesh in the third tranche of a $4.7 billion loan package as much-needed economic relief for Bangladesh.
The foreign minister, however, dismissed concerns about pressure on foreign exchange reserves.
China is one of the largest trade partners of Bangladesh, with bilateral trade reaching $18.50 billion in the 2022鈥�23 financial year, according to the latest data from the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce, which cited the Export Promotion Bureau and Bangladesh Bank sources.
The trade balance is heavily tilted towards China, which exported products worth $17.82 billion to Bangladesh and imported products, mostly jute yarn, worth $677.36 million from Bangladesh in the financial year.
Hasina last visited Beijing in July 2019.