Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, the last day of his visit to China and his first overseas tour since taking office.

The meeting is scheduled for 10:30am local time at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the Prime Minister's Additional Press Secretary Atiqur Rahman Ruman said.

The premier and his entourage will depart from Beijing for Dhaka at 5pm local time.

Mahdi Amin, spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office, also confirmed the meeting, saying it would be held at 8:30am Bangladesh time.

Tarique will raise several issues related to Bangladesh's interests in the meeting, said Amin.

“At the same time, he [Tarique] will bring positive results to further consolidate development and progress for Bangladeshis," he added.

Tarique is also scheduled to sit with Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, at the same venue in the morning and visit the country’s National Museum in Beijing.

His 23-strong entourage includes Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, Information Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon, State Minister for Power Aninda Islam Amit, Foreign Advisor Humaiun Kobir, Finance and Planning Advisor Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, and Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam.

The premier first went to Malaysia on Jun 21, marking his first foreign visit after the BNP formed the government. After completing the formalities of the visit, he travelled to Dalian, a northeastern city of China, on Monday.

After participating in the World Economic Forum conference there, his three-day state visit began in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon.