Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman (second proper) attends a gathering with Chinese language President Xi Jinping on the Nice Corridor of the Folks, in Beijing, China, on Friday (June 26, 2026).
| Picture Credit score: AP
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman met with Chinese language President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday (June 26, 2026), the place he urged a discount of the commerce hole, diversification of exports and China’s assist in implementing his nation’s main initiatives.
Mr. Rahman is on a three-day journey to China, which started on Wednesday (June 24, 2026), his first go to to the nation since he grew to become Prime Minister in February.
Dhaka is searching for to deepen ties with China, certainly one of its largest buying and selling companions and growth financiers. The go to additionally carries broader diplomatic significance, as Mr. Rahman seeks to steadiness ties with each Beijing and New Delhi. His predecessor, Sheikh Hasina, was broadly seen as nearer to India, and whereas relations between Dhaka and New Delhi have improved since Mr. Rahman took workplace, disagreements, together with over border tensions, stay.
Mr. Rahman advised Mr. Xi that with the intention to scale back Bangladesh’s commerce deficit, China might assist diversify Bangladesh’s exports to the nation.
“We request China to contemplate import our contemporary mangoes, jackfruit, guava, aquatic merchandise, uncooked leather-based, jute merchandise and pharmaceutical merchandise,” Mr. Rahman mentioned, in keeping with a media pool report.
Bangladesh wants China’s assist in “implementing our main signature initiatives and upgrading and modernisation of our present industrial items,” he added.
Bangladesh joined China’s Belt and Street Initiative in 2016, Mr. Xi’s flagship infrastructure and growth technique aimed toward connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. China is keen to work with Bangladesh to import extra prime quality merchandise from Bangladesh, assist Chinese language enterprises in investing within the nation and broaden cooperation in rising industries comparable to new vitality, the digital financial system and synthetic intelligence, in keeping with a Chinese language authorities assertion.
Mr. Rahman met with Premier Li Qiang on Thursday (June 25, 2026) the place they signed a number of cooperation agreements to solidify bilateral ties, state media reported.
Bangladesh owes China $6.2 billion, World Financial institution knowledge exhibits, with the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Funding Financial institution having lent an extra $2.3 billion. Delhi has lent its neighbour simply $1.6 billion.
In the meantime, Chinese language corporations have invested an extra $7.7 billion, round half of which was in Bangladesh’s vitality sector, knowledge from the American Enterprise Institute suppose tank exhibits.
China has develop into extra cautious about financing, mentioned Chim Lee, senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit in Beijing.
“Not least as a result of it tends to be searching for key logistics corridors as of late that may be scaled up, and Bangladesh is a bit difficult as a result of it simply would not present the identical type of hall as say Central Asia or Myanmar,” Mr. Lee mentioned.
Revealed – June 26, 2026 11:21 am IST