Chinese Foreign Minister makes stopover in Dhaka, meets Momen

Newly appointed Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang held an hour-long meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart at a brief stopover at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka early Tuesday.

The aircraft carrying Qin stopped at the airport at 1:58 am en route to his visit to Africa.

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen welcomed the Chinese minister at the airport and held a meeting with him at the VIP lounge. Qin left Dhaka for Africa at 2:50am.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, foreign minister Momen said Bangladesh thanked China for giving away the coronavirus vaccine. The foreign minister also appraised his Chinese counterpart of Bangladesh’s huge trade deficit with China.

China was supposed to give duty-free access to Bangladeshi goods. But Bangladesh is not availing the facility even after a long time. Momen requested the Chinese minister to make an announcement on the issue.

Momem reaffirmed Bangladesh’s support for the one-China policy.

Qin invited Momen to visit China.

Qin has started his term with a weeklong trip to five African countries including Ethiopia.