The Chinese government has responded positively to several requests made by Bangladesh during the visit of the interim government’s adviser on foreign affairs, Touhid Hossain, to China from January 20 to 24.

Bangladesh requested China to lower the interest rate on both Preferential Buyer’s Credit (PBC) and Government Concessional Loans (GCL) from 2-3 percent to 1 percent, waive the commitment fee, and extend the loan repayment period from 20 to 30 years. It also requested Beijing to improve access of Bangladeshi patients to medical treatment.

On returning to Dhaka after the visit, Hossain told the media that China “agreed in principle” to extend the loan repayment period and promised to look into the request to lower the interest rate. It also agreed to construct a 1,000-bed hospital in Dhaka and designate three to four hospitals in Kunming for medical treatment of Bangladeshi patients.

During Hossain’s visit, Bangladesh and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding on sharing hydrological data on the Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra-Jamuna river. A mega dam that China plans to build on this river is of concern to Bangladesh.

The two sides also reaffirmed commitment to their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

It was just a little over seven months before Hossain’s trip to China that Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Beijing, where she was accorded a grand welcome. During that visit, which came weeks before she was ousted from power by a student-led mass uprising, China and Bangladesh elevated their “strategic partnership” to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” and signed 21 agreements.

During Hossain’s visit, the Chinese signaled that they are moving on, and are set to work with the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

With its “positive response” to........

© The Diplomat