Bangladesh has emphasised on trade and investment cooperation with China amid growing interest among Chinese financiers to invest in Bangladesh.

"We are working closely with the Chinese authorities to know the need of the Chinese importers," said State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam while addressing a virtual dialogue titled "Bangladesh-China Development Cooperation: Experience and Outlook".

Shahriar said investment will continue to grow in the exclusive economic zone in Anwara upazila of Chattogram on 800 acres of land.

He reiterated Bangladesh's commitment on having closer economic cooperation with China for mutual benefit.

Referring to high level visits between the two countries, Shahriar said there will be more such high level visits once the Covid-19 situation improves.

On infrastructure issues, the State Minister said the infrastructure gap will not widen; rather it will narrow amid the huge work projects in place.

Vaccine diplomacy, Rohingya crisis, global initiatives like Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) were also discussed.

Mahbub Uz Zaman, Bangladesh Ambassador to China, Li Jiming, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh attended the programme, organised by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) as guests of honour.

Ambassador M Humayun Kabir, president of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute; (Retd) Major General ANM Muniruzzaman, president of Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies; Cheng Min, professor at Institute for Bangladesh Studies, Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, Kunming; and Dr Wang Shida, deputy director of China Academy of Contemporary International Relations, Institute of South Asian Studies, Beijing, were present as panellists.

Professor Rehman Sobhan, chairman of CPD, chaired the dialogue.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of Bangladesh-China diplomatic ties.

During the past decades, development cooperation between Bangladesh and China has increased significantly, the speakers said.

The objective of the event was to review Bangladesh's economic relationship with China and discuss the outlook for future bi-lateral partnership through investment and trade.