China has expressed its keenness to import 'Hilsa', the national fish and silver pride of Bangladesh.
Chinese ambassador in Dhaka Yao Wen yesterday showed the interest while meeting with Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin at Bangladesh secretariat in the city, said a press release.
During the meeting, they discussed in detail the development of bilateral relations and the increase in trade and investment.
Bashir said that China is one of the development partners and friendly countries of Bangladesh.
"There is an opportunity to further strengthen bilateral relations through increased investment," he added.
At the same time, he called for increasing Chinese investment in agriculture, transportation, agro-machinery and healthcare sectors in Bangladesh.
Bashir said that the trade gap between Bangladesh and China is huge. He called for increasing imports of goods from Bangladesh to reduce the trade gap and reducing all types of tariffs on imported goods. Stating the need for Chinese investment in Bangladesh, the commerce adviser said that setting up truck manufacturing factories in this country and investing in modernizing agriculture will bring good results for both countries.
Yao Wen said that 30 Chinese companies have shown interest in investing at the economic zone in Chattogram.
"There is a huge demand for Bangladeshi Hilsa fish in China. Bangladesh has an opportunity to reduce the trade gap through Hilsa fish exports," he added.
At this time, he expressed interest to import initially 1,000 metric tons of Hilsa.
He also mentioned that China wants to import mango, jackfruit and guava from Bangladesh and increase investment in these sectors in Bangladesh.
Additional Secretary (Export) of the Ministry of Commerce MdAbdur Rahim Khan was present at the time.
