Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed visted China in June and at a meeting with Chinese Pres-ident Xi Jinping, pledges were made on both sides to build an economic corridor linking Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar.
“Bangladesh is an important country along the Maritime Silk Road,” Xi said during the meeting, noting that China welcomes the Bangladesh side’s participation in the con-struction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, while pushing ahead with the economic corridor.
The moves will help build a community of shared interests between China and Bangla-desh, and benefit the people of the two coun-tries and the region at large, according to the Chinese leader.
The concept of the belt and maritime route was initially proposed by President Xi last year. Historically the Silk Road connected China with Europe from around 100 B.C., while the Maritime Silk Road was used by Chinese merchants to transport silk, ceram-ics and tea to overseas markets.
Echoing Xi’s proposal on the belt and mar-itime route, PM Wajed said the four-nation economic corridor is of great significance for the development of South Asia and that her country will play an active role in its con-struction.
According to a joint statement, the two sides recognised that the development of the cor-ridor would constitute an important vehicle to complement various regional connectivity initiatives and provide an important avenue for strengthening cooperation and sustain-able development.
China and Bangladesh agreed to remain ac-tively engaged towards the development of the corridor along with other countries, and expressed their hope of realising mutually beneficial and result-oriented cooperation among the four countries, said the state-ment.
During the meeting, Xi said China attaches great importance to its ties with Bangladesh and regards the country as an important co-operative partner in South Asia and the In-dian Ocean region.
As 2015 will mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic re-lationship, Xi proposed the two sides hold various events to celebrate the anniversary and boost cooperation in multiple areas to cement their partnership.
Xi also expressed China’s support for Ban-gladesh’s development path and pledged to share technology and experience to reduce poverty and help spur its economy.
Bangladesh will continue to support China firmly on issues involving its core interests and major concerns, said the Bangladesh prime minister.
Wajed is made the official visit to China from June 6 to 11 at the invitation of Chinese Pre-mier Li Keqiang. During the visit, she also attended the second China-South Asia Expo in Kunming in China’s Yunnan Province.
During Wajed’s visit, she and the Chinese premier witnessed the signing of a string of deals regarding economic and technical co-operation, a feasibility study of flood preven-tion and management in Bangladesh, and the construction of a multi-lane road tunnel project under the River Karnaphuli
