China and Bangladesh have pledged to deepen the comprehensive partnership between the two countries and further boost cooperation in various fields, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
The pledge was made when visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina here on Sunday.
During the meeting, Liu said that this year marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two sides and China was willing to deepen the traditional friendship, broaden pragmatic cooperation, strengthen people-to-people exchanges and further develop the comprehensive cooperative partnership between the two countries.
Liu expressed the hope that the two sides would work together to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges and seize the opportunities to realise the Chinese dream and "the dream of a golden Bangladesh".
Bangladesh, which enjoys a unique geographical position in the region and has an abundant labour force, was one of the important countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. China appreciated Bangladesh's support for the initiatives of the "One Belt and One Road" and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor, the Chinese vice premier said.
Under this framework, China was ready to join hands with Bangladesh to seek common interests, boost cooperation in industrial cooperation, infrastructure construction, agriculture, medical health, among others to achieve substantial results and make due contribution to regional development, Liu said.
The occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations was a new opportunity for both sides to strengthen people-to-people exchanges and China was willing to boost friendly exchanges between political parties, think tanks, colleges and universities, youth, women and media of the two countries to deepen mutual understanding between the two peoples, he added.
On her part, Hasina said in the past 40 years the friendly ties between the two sides have kept developing with mutual support and her country appreciated China for its help in the area of development.
She said her country was satisfied with the progress in cooperation between the two sides on important projects, including the construction of bridges, tunnels and industry parks.
