Visit provides opportunity to advance development of China-Bangladesh ties: China Daily

The official visit of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to China from Wednesday to Friday comes at an important moment for the development of China-Bangladesh relations.

As Rahman's first visit to China since taking office in February, the trip provides an opportunity for the two sides to deepen strategic communication, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly chart the future course of bilateral ties.

During Chinese Premier Li Qiang's meeting with Rahman in Beijing on Thursday, the two sides had in-depth exchanges on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common concern, outlining the key fields of future pragmatic cooperation ranging across trade, investment, infrastructure, connectivity, water conservancy, healthcare and people-to-people exchanges. That will be conducive to expanding their high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and extending their collaboration to high technology, the green economy and the digital sector.

Li said China is willing to expand imports from Bangladesh and increase investment in the South Asian country. He also expressed the hope that Bangladesh will provide Chinese enterprises and investments with a good business environment.

It is good to hear Rahman say that Bangladesh is ready to deepen Belt and Road cooperation with China. He also voiced the country's support for the four global initiatives and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity proposed by China.

Notably, the two sides signed a series of cooperation agreements in various fields on Thursday that will help transform the common understandings between them on promoting development and exchanges into concrete actions and results in the foreseeable future.

All these will serve to inject fresh vitality into the two neighbors' traditional friendship and their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership that has delivered tangible benefits to both peoples since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries over 50 years ago.

The deepening of practical cooperation between the two sides will help further broaden their shared interests, enhance mutual understanding and strengthen the foundation for closer strategic coordination on international affairs.

This, in turn, will enable them to effectively uphold multilateralism and promote a fairer, more just and inclusive international order that better reflects the aspirations and interests of the Global South. In doing so, they can work together to safeguard regional peace, stability and common development.

China is the largest trading partner of Bangladesh, while Bangladesh is China's second-largest trading partner in South Asia. Bilateral trade reached about $25 billion last year, demonstrating the high degree of complementarity between the two economies.

China's strengths in manufacturing, infrastructure, technology and industrial development align closely with Bangladesh's aspirations for industrialization, modernization and economic transformation.

Rahman's participation in the Summer Davos 2026 in Dalian, Liaoning province, on Wednesday presented him with an opportunity to engage with China's business community, learn more about the world's second-largest economy's innovation-driven growth and explore new avenues for cooperation in emerging sectors.

During Rahman's visit, President Xi Jinping and Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee Zhao Leji are also scheduled to meet and hold talks with him respectively, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Xi will draw up a new strategic plan to further deepen China-Bangladesh relations in his meeting with the Bangladeshi prime minister, Li said.

Against the backdrop of rising uncertainties in the region and beyond, Rahman's visit undoubtedly presents a valuable opportunity for both countries to elevate the China-Bangladesh comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to a new level.