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China favours regional connectivity

Diplomatic Correspondent
China favours regional connectivity for the benefit of the South Asian countries,
Chinese Ambassador in Bangladesh Zhang Xianyi said yesterday.
The ambassador said China likes to be connected to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.
Asked about the proposed transit between Bangladesh and India, he said "It is an issue between Bangladesh and India but in principle China always supports connectivity if it is good and beneficial for all the countries."
He, however, said the transit should be for peaceful purposes.
The envoy said China supports connectivity between Bangladesh and India as well as other countries in the region for mutual economic benefit.
Bangladesh, the envoy said, serves as a bridge between South Asia and South East Asia, and it can be a regional hub of development. Bangladesh should avail this unique opportunity, he said.
Zhang replied to a volley of questions at a meet the press programme organised by the Jatiya Press Club.
On a question about Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit to Bangladesh, the ambassador said Beijing sees the visit very positively as the two countries can contribute to development, security, stability and wellbeing of the people in the region.
"Both India and Bangladesh are very important countries in South Asia. These two countries can play a great role for benefit of tire people of the region," he said. We look at development between the two great countries very positively."
Replying to another question, he termed the recent China visit of the Bangladesh army chief fruitfill and successful, and said Beijing would continue to support Bangladesh'sdefence.
He said Bangladesh will purchase 44 military armoured vehicles from China at a cost of $ 200 million, and the military hardware will be delivered in the next 15 months.
"Defence cooperation between Bangladesh and China is an important component of our bilateral relations, " said the envoy.
Zhang dismissed media reports that China is withdrawing waters from the Yarluzangbu river, known as the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh and India. "As a fact, we are generating electricity not obstructing the waterflow," hesaid.
In this context, he men-
tioned that during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to China in March last year, Dhaka and Beijing reached an understanding to share data on the flow of the river basin from January to October, and his country has been doing it with Bangladesh free of cost.
Asked about Bangladesh's request for Chinese assistance to build a deep seaport at Sonadia in the Bay of Bengal, Zhang said, “We're very positive about the deep seaport." And a Chinese company came to Bangladesh to study the project.
He said China is working with Myanmar to modernise its roads, and it will enable Bangladesh to connect with Myanmar.
“Since the highway involves the three nations, we will have to be patient,” he added.
The envoy said bilateral trade between Bangladesh and China rose to $7 billion in 2010 and it is expected to cross $8 billion in the current fiscal year.
Beijing is allowing duty-free access to Bangladeshi products and has already given zero-duty entry for over 4000 items to reduce the trade gap. More items will be given zero-duty entry soon,hesaid.
China is looking for investment in Bangladesh, he said, and delegations from some 20 Chinese companies from Hong Kong will arrive in Bangladesh soon to explore the investment opportunity. He however said shortage of gas, electricity and land in Bangladesh are some of the obstacles the investors face.
Chaired by Jatiya Press Club President Kamaluddin Sabuj, the programme was attended by News Today Editor Reazuddin Ahmed and General Secretary of the club Syed Abdal Ahmed and its other office bearers.