Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jun paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Dipu Moni at her office on Sunday and wished that he would do his best to further cement bilateral relations with Bangladesh.
The foreign minister warmly congratulated the newly appointed Ambassador and hoped that during his tenure, bilateral relations between the two friendly neighbours will be further deepened and widened. She assured him of our all possible help and support in discharging his duties in Bangladesh.
She recalled the successful visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to China as well as the visit of the Vice President of China to Bangladesh. She also recalled the visits of the other high level delegates of the Chinese government and China Communist Party (CPC) during the last three years.
Dipu Moni expressed happiness for continued Chinese assistance and support for various key development projects in power, agriculture, infrastructure and telecommunications of Bangladesh and hoped that the new Ambassador will continue pursuing the pending projects like the direct road link, communications satellite, deep-sea port, new friendship bridge etc.
While reiterating Bangladesh’s steadfast support for One-China Policy, she mentioned that the dream for direct road link between Bangladesh and China will be a reality as the route survey of the Kunming to Kolkata via Mandalay and Dhaka was successfully completed in January this year.
The ambassador hoped that there would be visible progress on this issue during his tenure.
The foreign minister expressed satisfaction at the steady growth of bilateral trade though the trade imbalance was heavily tilted against Bangladesh and hoped that China will remain responsive to some of Bangladesh’s concerns to reduce the trade imbalance to some extent by increasing direct investment and relocating sun-set industries of China to Bangladesh.
The Chinese ambassador attached great importance to Bangladesh’s close, friendly and cooperative relations with his country and mentioned that his government emphasized on further advancing the ‘Comprehensive Partnership of Cooperation’ with Bangladesh.
He also mentioned about China’s active engagement as an observer country of SAARC and wished that China could contribute significantly in making SAARC more dynamic, according to a foreign ministry press statement.
The ambassador informed the minister the position of the Chinese government towards the Syrian crisis. He said that his country was in favour of resolving the crisis through negotiation without direct foreign intervention.
BBN/SSR/AD-12Mar12-10:30 am (BST)
