Staff Reporter:
All Bangladeshi products will get duty-free market access to China as Beijing has decided to offer the privilege to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen conveyed the decision when he called on new Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin on Thursday at the foreign ministry.
“The Chinese ambassador said in the Sino-Africa summit held in the first week of September that China had decided to provide a 100% tariff line to LDCs, including Bangladesh,” the foreign secretary told reporters after the meeting.
Jashim Uddin joined as the 27th foreign secretary of Bangladesh on September 8. Prior to his appointment as foreign secretary, he was serving as Bangladesh Ambassador to China with concurrent accreditation to Mongolia.
He said China in 2022 had granted duty-free access to 98% of Bangladeshi goods, including 383 new products, especially leather and leather goods.
In 2020, it was for 97% of Bangladeshi products.
China is Bangladesh’s largest trading partner. However, the two-way trade is heavily titled towards China.
China exported products to Bangladesh worth more than $18.6 billion in fiscal year 2022-23, while Bangladesh’s exports to China were worth about only $676 million.
The foreign secretary said after the formation of the interim government, China had been the source of most foreign direct investment, which amounted to about $8 million.
“We are expecting an increase in our exports to China,” he said, as China earlier this year had cleared the formalities of importing mangoes from Bangladesh.
“We can export mangoes to China from next year,” the foreign secretary hoped that.
He also proposed that China can take jackfruits and guavas from Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy after the meeting said the two sides had in-depth exchanges of views on China-Bangladesh relations, pragmatic cooperation in various fields, celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties and regional and international issues of common concern, the embassy said.
China, earlier, welcomed the formation of the interim government, and said the friendship between China and Bangladesh runs long and deep.
“China values its relations with Bangladesh, and stands ready to work with Bangladesh to promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various areas and further advance our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership,” Beijing said after the formation of the interim government on August 8.
