Xi Jinping in Bangladesh: An essential partner for the new Silk Road
The Chinese president was welcomed yesterday with great fanfare. He is the first leader from Beijing to visit the country after 30 years. 27 commercial agreements signed for a total of nearly $ 24 billion. The renewed agreement will allow Dhaka to reach middle-income countries by 2021. It will also permit China to develop the strategy of "One Belt One Road".
Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Commercial agreements for almost $ 24 billion; the strengthening of political ties between China and Bangladesh; a series of infrastructure and railway projects to develop the Asian axis of the new Silk Road linking China with Europe.
These are the main themes that emerged yesterday during the flying visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who arrived in Dhaka in the morning to sign agreements defined as "milestones". Today he will leave for India, where he will attend the meeting of the BRICS countries in Goa.
Even before his arrival, greeted with great fanfare with all military and civilian honors, the local newspapers touted the visit as the most important recent event in the history of Bangladesh. He is in fact the first Chinese president to visit the Asian country after 30 years.
During the meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 27 trade agreements were signed: 15 agreements and memoranda of understanding and 12 dealing with loans and mutual assistance.
In this way, Beijing has become the largest trading partner of Dhaka. In recent years trade between the two countries have gone from $ 900 million in 2000 to 14.7 billion in 2015, with an annual increase of 20%.
The visit was hailed by both leaders as a milestone for the development of the region. Prime Minister Hasina admitted that with these agreements Bangladesh could achieve the goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2021.
For his part, Xi stressed that "in a sense, South Asia is China’s backyard "and then he added that" the northern part of the region is key to the Silk Road Economic Belt, while the southern one is critical to the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st century. "
The two projects included in the strategy of “One Belt, One Road”, the belt of ports and roads that will allow Beijing to expand businesses into the heart of Europe and Africa. In this context, projects have been signed for the creation of roads and highways, for the protection of coasts and ports, energy and electrical, transport, telecommunications and agriculture.
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31/01/2020 12:50
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