Yunus leaves for China today

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus is set to leave for a four-day visit to China this afternoon, his first bilateral visit after taking charge of the government on August 8 last year.

"His choice for his first bilateral visit is sending out a message. We consider China to be our very important friend. China holds the same sentiment," Foreign Secretary Jashim Uddin told a media briefing at the foreign ministry yesterday.

Yunus will lead a 57-member delegation including Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain, officials and security personnel in a flight dispatched by the Chinese government.

The visit marks the 50 years of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and China.

"China is one of the countries that quickly committed to working with the interim government of Bangladesh. A Chinese delegation of physicians visited Bangladesh and extended support to the injured of the July uprising," Jashim said.

On March 27, he will deliver a speech at the opening plenary session of the Boao Forum for Asia Conference, popularly dubbed the Asian Davos, and hold separate meetings with China's Executive Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and some business leaders.

Yunus, who last attended the conference in China's Hainan Province in 2007, will present his famous theory of Three Zeros and sustainable solutions to global problems.

On March 28, he will meet President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

He is likely to visit a high-tech enterprise under Huawei and give an interview with a leading Chinese media outlet. On March 29, he will be conferred with an honorary doctorate by Peking University, where he will also deliver a speech.

The two countries are likely to sign a few agreements and memoranda of understanding on economic and technical assistance, support for human resources development, cooperation in disaster mitigation, the establishment of a Chinese book centre, translation and publication of Chinese classical literature, collaboration in the sports sector and cooperation between the state news agencies of the two countries.

Teesta river water management, the Rohingya crisis, development assistance, cooperation in the health sector and Bangladesh's position on various global issues will come up during Yunus's meeting with Xi.

Asked if the Teesta river water management project will be discussed, Jashim said the meeting with the Chinse president is not agenda-driven; rather the two sides will choose issues of their choice for discussion.

"However, there is interest from both sides to discuss the water management issue. Under that, there is a scope to discuss the Teesta issue as well," he said.

Asked if defence cooperation will take place, Jashim said this issue may come up during the discussions given the history of defence cooperation with China.

On the Rohingya issue, he said that Bangladesh has been trying for Rohingya repatriation for the last several years and China is also involved in an initiative.

"What we are expecting from this meeting is the Chinese views on the situation in Myanmar and share our views. Based on that, we can discuss the future course of action," he said.

There might be announcements on financial assistance, concessions in loans and a specialised hospital by China in Bangladesh.