Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who arrived in the city on Saturday afternoon on a special flight, said China would try to help Bangladesh to resolve the Rohingya crisis.
Agricultural Minister Dr Abdur Razzak, who received the Chinese Foreign Minister at the airport, told this to newsmen referring to his conversation with the Chinese FM.
“We also discussed issues related to enhancing cooperation in agriculture sector technology and trade”, Mr Razzak said.
Mr Razzak received Mr Wang at the airport as Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen was in Cambodia.
Mr Momen returned home later in the evening.
From the airport Mr Wang went to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujiber Rahman memorial museum at Dhanmondi 32 to pay homage to the Father of the Nation.
He will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 9am after holding bilateral talks with his Bangladesh counterpart AK Abdul Momen at 7.30am on Sunday.
After the meeting with the FM, several Memorandums of Understandings (MoUs) related to disaster management, cultural cooperation and education are likely be signed between the two countries.
Meanwhile, the dinner scheduled to be hosted by Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader in honour of the Chinese foreign minister last evening was cancelled at the request of the Chinese side, sources said.
Mr Wang’s visit is considered very crucial as his visit coincides with the tension centring US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, which prompted China to start military exercise circling the island.
Bangladesh, in a statement on Thursday, made it clear that it stocked to the ‘One-China’ policy and called on all sides for exercising utmost restraints so that the situation do not deteriorate further.
Responding to a question, the state minister said Bangladesh would seek a stronger role from the Chinese government for early repatriation of the Rohingya.
Earlier on Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said the visit is part of the Chinese side’s routine visit to the region and also it is an opportunity to review the existing engagements between the two countries.
He said this when asked about the political significance of the visit taking place in the run up to Prime Minister’s Delhi visit next month.
In January 2017, Wang Yi had an hour-long stopover in Dhaka.
