China is considering to expand preferential trade arrangements which will cover almost 95 percent of Bangladesh goods in addition to discussing the issue of rules of origin to reduce the trade imbalance.
It was mentioned during a bilateral consultation meeting between Bangladesh and China in Beijing.
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque and Vice Foreign Minister of Chinese Foreign Ministry Liu Zhenmin led the respective sides to the meeting, according to a message received here on Saturday.
During the talks, China assured Bangladesh of further easing visa procedures for tourists and particularly businesspeople from Bangladesh.
China readily agreed to Bangladesh’s proposal to discuss a ‘comprehensive visa agreement’ at an early date and China also offered to host a delegation from Bangladesh to sort out all consular issues and thereby easing the visa procedure for visitors from Bangladesh to China.
The two sides expressed satisfaction on the fact that trade between Bangladesh and China surpassed US$ 8 billion in 2012 with an annual increase by 17 percent in the previous year.
During the first quarter of 2013, the trade volume reached US$ 3.3 with a year-on-year increase by 36 percent with the possibility of taking the bilateral trade figure to a record high.
Both sides discussed the necessity of exchange of high-level visits, economic cooperation, connectivity, cooperation on agriculture and water resources, people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges, defence and security cooperation and consular affairs.
On defence, both sides voice satisfaction over the ongoing cooperation and the Chinese side expressed their willingness to invite the Service Chiefs of Armed Forces for visiting China.
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi termed the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and China as ‘closer comprehensive partnership of cooperation’ and assured of all possible support for furthering Bangladesh-China relations in the days ahead.
Terming Bangladesh a ‘big’ country in South Asia, the Chinese Foreign Minister expressed their keenness in engaging with Bangladesh in the days ahead.
Referring to wider trends in the world, more importantly in Asia, Wang expressed their desire to see more regional initiatives like that of BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar) Economic Corridor in the region.
Appreciating Bangladesh for its ‘One China Policy’, the Foreign Minister emphasised high-profile bilateral visits at the political, parliamentarian and government levels to further consolidate the relations.
The Chinese side, in response, proposed holding ‘bilateral consultation on Consular matters’ that would identify the modalities of simplifying visa procedure for fostering people-to-people contact and trade and commerce.
They also emphasised that BCIM, as an economic corridor, would facilitate the relations and connectivity between South Asia and East Asia.
In the recent visit of Chinese premier to India, a joint statement was signed where both parties agreed to consult with Bangladesh and Myanmar with a view to establishing a ‘Joint Study Group’ to explore the economic advantage of the region.
The Chinese government sought the support the government of Bangladesh in materialising the gain of BCIM.
The Bangladesh side assured of full support for the BCIM initiatives of the Chinese government to promote trade and connectivity as this will not only add to the volume of intra regional trade, it will also bring people of this region closer than ever.
About trade, China assured Bangladesh Foreign Secretary that China will do all it can to address this imbalance and as an immediate measure to address this issue and offered to consider further trade concessions for Bangladesh.
Subsequently, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary handed over a list of 17 products for duty-free access to China while meeting with Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce Gao Yan.
During the meeting with Gao Yan, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary also proposed to set up an office of China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in Dhaka.
Source: UNBConnect