'China dream' and 'Bangladesh dream' have blended well as both the nations partnered in belt and road initiative (BRI), a top Chinese entrepreneur has said.
The two countries have great potential for stronger bilateral cooperation, he commented on Friday.
"Bangladesh is a very important country in BRI. Since President Xi's visit to Bangladesh in 2016, they established a strategic partnership," said Jun Huang, secretary general of China Top 500 Foreign Trade Enterprises Club, in Beijing.
He said President Xi sought to cooperate with Bangladesh in several major areas like power, infrastructure, capacity building and agriculture to forge stronger bilateral ties.
Huang was speaking at a China-Bangladesh Business Forum organised by Bangladesh High Commission and Top 500 Foreign Trade Enterprises Club at a Beijing hotel.
Around 40 Chinese entrepreneurs attended the programme.
Speaking at the event, Bangladesh Ambassador in Beijing M Fazlul Karim said China is a major development partner now involved in multiple infrastructure and power generation projects in Bangladesh.
Over the years, he said, China has emerged as the largest trading partner of Bangladesh with a trade volume of more than $12 billion in 2017.
"There exists tremendous potential to further expand trade and investment cooperation. As a bridge between South and South East Asia, Bangladesh is a very attractive place for foreign direct investment."
Karim said Bangladesh has qualified for graduating from a least developed country (LDC) to a developing country status, reflecting key improvements in both social and economic sectors.
The envoy said the government is in the process of establishing 100 special economic zones (SEZs) and at least one hi-tech park in each district in the coming years for rapid industrialisation.
"This is expected to transform Bangladesh into a major manufacturing hub in Asia," he added.
"...Bangladesh is setting up a special economic zone for Chinese investors in Chittagong, which will be ready for investment at the end of this year."
Karim identified shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, garments and textile, agro-processing, light engineering, ICT, jute, infrastructure, power generation and tourism for Chinese investment.
Commercial counsellor of Bangladesh High Commission Md Mahfuzul Alam Khan, Managing Director and CEO of Shandong Sinoking Dredging Equipment Co Ltd Wilson Zhao and GEO Bangla Managing Director Abu Sayed, among others, also spoke at the forum.
