Dhaka, Oct 14 (UNB) – Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here on Friday morning on a historic state visit to help usher in a new era in Dhaka-Beijing relations.
President Abdul Hamid received his Chinese counterpart on his arrival at the VVIP terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport 12.03 pm amid a booming 21-gun salute.
A special VVIP flight of Air China carrying the Chinese President landed here at 11:36 am. He was earlier escorted by an Air Force jet in Bangladesh sky.
A red carpet was also rolled out to receive Xi Jinping.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Public Administration Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, Planning Minister AHM Mostafa Kamal, Prime Minister`s Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi, the chiefs of the three services and State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam were present at the presentation line.
Xi Jinping moved to the saluting dais accompanied by his Bangladesh counterpart, and received guard of honor and inspected the guard.
The Chinese President`s landmark visit is expected to steer a `historic new journey’ towards opening up a `new horizon’ in relations between the two countries.
A 13-member high power delegation including Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng, Governor of the People’s Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan, accompanied the Chinese President.
From the airport, President Xi is now being escorted to his place of residence – Hotel Le Meridien – in a ceremonial motorcade.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Chinese President will have a tete-a-tete at Shimul of the Prime Minister`s Office from 3pm to 3:10pm, while the official talks between Xi and Hasina will be held at Chameli from 3:10pm to 4pm.
They will witness the signing of MoUs and agreements which will be held at Karobi soon after the official talks. There will be a press statement after the signing ceremony.
The Chinese President will sign visitors’ book there before returning to his place of residence.
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury will meet the Chinese President at Rangamati Room of the hotel at 4:35 retreat.
After the meeting, President Xi will head towards Bangabhaban and meet his Bangladesh counterpart Abdul Hamid at 6:30pm.
The Chinese President will attend banquet preceded by cultural programme to be hosted by Hamid at Darbar Hall from 7pm-8:30pm.
On Saturday, the Chinese President will leave hotel for National Martyrs Memorial at 8:20pm
Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq and the General Commanding Officer of the 9th infantry division will receive the Chinese President in Savar at 8:55am.
After attending the ceremony at the National Martyrs Memorial, the Chinese President will sign visitors` book and plant a sapling there.
President Xi will reach the airport straight from Savar and leave for Goa, India at 10am on Saturday by the special VVIP flight. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will see him off at the airport.
The visit is taking place three decades after then Chinese President Li Xiannian visited Bangladesh in March 1986.
Dhaka and Beijing are likely to sign an umbrella agreement to establish closer economic ties through strengthening investment and production capacity covering some 25 priority projects with a special focus on Bangladesh’s infrastructure, communication and energy sectors.
Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka Ma Mingqiang has recently said Chinese President Xi Jinping`s forthcoming Dhaka visit will take the Bangladesh-China relations to a new height.
China has already termed its President’s Bangladesh visit a `milestone` for Bangladesh-China friendship.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said Bangladesh is China`s important partner in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region, and the visit would be a `milestone` for Bangladesh-China relationship.
China has emerged as the biggest source of import for Bangladesh since 2007. In 2015-16, two-way trades between the two countries has crossed US$ 9 billion with US$ 8223.20 million import from China and US$ 791.03 million export.
