Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas recent visit to China appears to fall short on both optics and substance with no major deliverables to show, despite the claims being made.
Notwithstanding the hype surrounding the visit from July 8-10, 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping did not give much time to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit. It is learnt that the meeting between the two leaders lasted for barely 30 minutes, from 4:00-4:30 pm (Beijing time), which includes the time taken for interpretation.
The fact that the Bangladesh Prime Minister did not receive noteworthy protocol treatment during the visit has also raised eyebrows. According to sources, no Minister from the Chinese government called on her during her visit; even the Chinese Foreign Minister did not visit her hotel to discuss the Bangladesh-China bilateral relationship.
In fact, the bilateral political interaction was only between Prime Minister Hasina and Chairman of the National Committee of Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, Wang Huning. It is worth pointing out that Wang is the fourth in hierarchy in the Chinese Communist Party.
No Significant Progress on Economic Issues: What was to be one of the high points of the Bangladesh Prime Ministers visit to China ended up lacking substance. The Summit on Trade, Business and Investment Opportunities between China and Bangladesh was chaired by a bureaucrat from the Government of China, pompously called the Vice Minister, but in reality, merely a Permanent Secretary.
No significant agreement or Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for furthering the economic ties or guiding progress was signed during the visit.
In this context, the 21 instruments which have been signed between both sides can be broken down into exchange letters, minutes of discussion, MoUs between media agencies, renewal of MoUs and re-hashing of existing agreements.
Whats more, the much-hyped MoU on Provision of Hydrological Information of river Brahmaputra in the flood season is a renewed MoU with no new contours, sources pointed out.
When it comes to the bilateral trade front, Bangladesh seems to have sought some gains on exports of value-added products such as textiles to China whereas only a Protocol of Phyto-sanitary requirements for export of fresh mangoes from Bangladesh to China was signed as a single relevant document.
It is being pointed out that this is hardly a gain for Bangladesh as the balance of trade is in favour of China with USD 21 billion of its exports to Bangladesh against Bangladeshi exports of USD 680 million to China. Agri exports can hardly balance this trade imbalance while a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), if signed, can only be in Chinas favour further. There was agreement on a feasibility study concluded for an FTA between Bangladesh and China.
Similarly, discussions between both sides for a concessional loan of USD 5 billion seem to have faltered without a meeting ground on the terms and conditions of the loan. There is no clarity in the media yet about loans or grants. However, it is quite clear that the talks of USD 20 billion in grants and loans were just meant to create hype around the visit.
To sum up, the hype around the visit was created by the Chinese Ambassador to Dhaka. There was too much narrative building in the media without matching real gains to be made by Bangladesh during the visit. —INN
