The 21-member Bangladesh Friendship Delegation returned home on Thursday after 11-day visit to China, reports UNB.
The delegation consisting of leaders from eight political parties, including the BNP, carried a message of strengthening bilateral ties and enhancing cooperation between the two countries.
The delegation, led by BNP Standing Committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 1:20 pm on a Southern China Airlines flight.
According to Chinese authorities, the visit was part of their strategy to strengthen multiparty relations with Bangladesh following the political changes in August.
The delegation also included three student leaders involved in the July-August mass uprising, along with two scholars and two journalists.
During the 11-day visit, the delegation held meetings with central and provincial leaders of the CPC in Beijing, Shaanxi and Yunnan.
They also participated in discussions on Bangladesh-China relations, China’s modernization and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
In addition to the political discussions, the delegation visited various industries, including AI technology, automobile manufacturing plants, solar and hydropower companies, an innovative agricultural project, a flower auction trading center, a museum, a model village, Jiaotong University, the Great Wall of China, coffee and tea gardens, historical sites, factories and a hospital designated for treating Bangladeshi patients.
During the discussions, CPC leaders assured that China’s cooperation with Bangladesh would continue to grow in various fields in the coming years.
Chinese Vice Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), Sun Haiyan, conveyed a message that China could be one of Bangladesh’s most trusted and special friends.
During a meeting with the Bangladeshi delegation at the IDCPC office in Beijing, she also expressed China’s desire to assist Bangladesh in returning to its path of rapid development.
The delegation included five leaders from the BNP and its associated organizations: BNP Legal Affairs Secretary Kayser Kamal, General Secretary of Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal Shohidul Islam, General Secretary of Jubo Dal Nurul Islam Nayon, General Secretary of Swechchhasebak Dal Razib Ahsan, and General Secretary of Chhatra Dal Nasir Uddin.
Seven leaders from other political parties also joined the delegation, including Revolutionary Workers Party General Secretary Saiful Huq, Jatiya Dal Chairman Syed Ehsanul Huda, Executive Coordinator of Ganosamhati Andolon Abul Hasan Md Shahidul Islam Rubel, National People’s Party Chairman AZM Fariduzzaman, Nationalist Democratic Movement Chairman Bobby Hajjaj, General Secretary of Gono Odhikar Parishad Muhammad Rashed Khan, and Joint Secretary General of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Maulana Ataullah Amin.
Other delegation members are Dr Moyeen Khan’s wife Advocate Roksana Khondker, Dhaka University’s International Relations department Prof Lailufar Yasmin, two journalists—UNB Special Correspondent Abdur Rahman Jahangir and Diplomatic Correspondent for Dainik Amader Somoy Md Arifuzzaman Mamun—and Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) researcher Md Nahiyan Shajid Khan, along with student leaders Ahsan Zonaed, Rafi Salman Rifat, and Md Reaz Hossain.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
