4-Oct-2020: Xi says ready to bring China-Bangladesh ties to new heights

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he stands ready to work with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Md. Abdul Hamid, to better align the two countries' strategies and jointly promote the construction of the Belt and Road, so as to take the China-Bangladesh strategic partnership of cooperation to new heights.

Xi made the remarks in an exchange of congratulatory messages with Hamid to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In his message, Xi said the China-Bangladesh friendship has a long history and remains ever new over time.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 45 years ago, the two countries have always respected each other and treated each other as equals, enhanced political mutual trust and deepened mutually beneficial cooperation that brings tangible benefits to the two peoples.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Bangladesh have stuck together through thick and thin, helped each other and fought against the pandemic side by side, writing a new chapter of bilateral friendship.

For his part, Hamid said in the message that the Bangladesh-China relationship is developing rapidly and has covered cooperation in key areas, to which Bangladesh attaches great importance.

He expressed his deep appreciation for China's continuous support for Bangladesh in its socio-economic development progress, adding that he believes the close and friendly relationship between the two countries will continue to deepen in the future.

Also, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang exchanged congratulatory messages with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Li said in his message that China is willing to deepen practical cooperation with Bangladesh in various fields and promote the steady and sustainable development of the China-Bangladesh strategic partnership of cooperation to better benefit the two countries and their people.

For her part, Hasina said the strategic partnership of cooperation between Bangladesh and China has been developed from the two countries' time-tested friendship and cooperation.

The strengthened Bangladesh-China cooperation has unleashed enormous potential in maintaining peace, security and stability in the region and even around the world, Hasina said.

19-Jun-2020: China embraces Bangladesh in trade

In a significant show of economic diplomacy in South Asia, China has announced tariff exemption for 97 per cent of exports from Bangladesh covering fisheries and leather products.

Bangladesh already receives tariff-exemption under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA). As a result of the latest announcement, more goods from Bangladesh will now be exempted of Chinese tariffs.

Bangladesh imports around $ 15 billion worth Chinese goods but its exports to China have been very low in comparison.

The leaders of the two countries had discussed enhancing bilateral relation in the background of the economic hardship triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This move is expected to help Bangladesh cushion the economic impact of the pandemic and also emerge as a possible beneficiary alongside Vietnam and Chile of the U.S.-China trade war. This move is expected to strengthen the China-Bangladesh relationship thus helping China expand its influence in the South Asian Region.

24-Aug-2020: China launches warship for Pakistan Navy

China has launched the first of the four advanced naval warships it is building for Pakistan.

The latest development comes amid deepening defence ties between the two all-weather allies. The first warship that has been launched is of Type-054 class frigate. The Type-054 class is equipped with the latest surface, subsurface, anti-air weapons, combat management system, and sensors. It will be one of the technologically advanced surface platforms of the Pakistan Navy fleet. The launching of the ship coincided with the 2nd strategic dialogue between the Chinese Foreign Minister and his Pakistani counterpart.

Pakistan had signed a contract with the China Shipbuilding Trading Company Ltd. (CSTC) for the delivery of two Type-054 A/P frigates in 2017. In 2019, the Chinese official media reported that China would build four advanced frigates for the Pakistan Navy.

2-Jun-2020: China gets set to build power project in PoK

China, under the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, will set up a power project in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir despite India’s objection to it.

An agreement has been finalised to implement the Kohala hydroelectric power project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It is a 1,124-megawatt power project.

The project will be built on the Jhelum River and aims at annually providing more than five billion units of clean and low-cost electricity for consumers in Pakistan. It is reported that this marks one of the largest investments of USD 2.4 billion in an independent power producer (IPP) in the region.

The 3,000-km-long CPEC is aimed at connecting China and Pakistan with rail, road, pipelines and optical cable fiber networks.

It connects China’s Xinjiang province with Pakistan’s Gwadar port, providing access to China to the Arabian Sea. The CPEC passes through PoK, over which India has conveyed its protests to China.

India had protested Pakistan’s plans to build a dam in Gilgit-Baltistan, saying such projects in territories under Pakistan’s illegal occupation was not proper. India protested to Pakistan awarding a mega contract to build a dam in Gilgit-Baltistan. More about it in 15th May 2020 CNA. It has been asserted time and again that India’s position is clear and the entire territory of Jammu and Kashmir is part of India. In the past too, India has opposed projects jointly taken up by Pakistan and China in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

6-Nov-2018: China-Pakistan bus service launched

A private bus service between Lahore in Pakistan and Kashgar in China was launched yesterday. The first bus left for Kashgar from the Lahore terminal in Gulberg area. It will cover the one-way journey in two days (30 hours).

The bus service was slated to launch on November 3 but was postponed due to security reasons.

Passengers availing the service will have to shell out PKR 23,000 per ticket for a round trip, while a one-way ticket from Lahore to Kashgar will cost PKR 13,000 per person. Similarly, a one-way ticket from Kashgar to Lahore will cost RMB 600 per seat.

During the two-day journey, the passengers will have multiple stops, including one at Islamabad or Rawalpindi to pick passengers, and scheduled stops at Mansehra for breakfast, Besham for lunch, Chelas for tea and Gilgit for dinner on a trip from Lahore to Kashgar on the first day.

On the second day of the journey, a breakfast halt will be made at Sost before heading towards the Sost border for immigration, customs, and lunch. The bus will cross over to China through the Khunjerab Pass at the Pakistan-China border, where checking will take place twice -- once on the Pakistani side and once on the Chinese side.

To avail the service, passengers have been asked to carry a valid passport, visa and a return ticket as travel documents. Baggage of not more than 20 kg will be allowed.

Special arrangements have been made for the security of the passengers and the service, while the driver will have all information to contact security guards at various check posts.

On November 1, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar asserted that any bus service between Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and China under so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a violation of India's sovereignty and territoriality.

10-Oct-2018: China to sell 48 high-end military drones to Pakistan

China will sell 48 high-end armed drones to its "all-weather ally" Pakistan. Wing Loong II is a high-end reconnaissance, strike and multi-role endurance unmanned aerial system, capable of being fitted with air-to-surface weapons. It is roughly equivalent to the American MQ-9 Reaper drone.

The drones will also be jointly manufactured by China and Pakistan. Last year, China reportedly sold to countries like the UAE and Egypt the Wing Loong II at an estimated USD 1 million per unit.

China, an "all-weather ally" of Islamabad, is the largest supplier of weapon system to the Pakistan Army. Both the countries also jointly manufacture JF-Thunder a single engine multi-role combat aircraft.

The announcement by China to permit the sale of high-end military drones comes in the immediate backdrop of India's move to acquire S-400 sophisticated missile defence systems from Russia. The deal was clinched during last week's visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to New Delhi.

The Trump administration has agreed to sell 22 Sea Guardian drones to India. The country is reported to have received 10 advanced Heron drones from Israel as well.

The system is composed of the ground station and various number of unmanned aerial vehicles. Within 10 months of its maiden flight, multiple live firing tests had been conducted in accordance with the requirement of its customers, including stationary targets, moving targets, time sensitive targets and air-ground coordination.

US drones like the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper are technologically more advanced, but Washington limits their export. China still lags behind the US, Russia and France in total arms sales but it is catching up. Chinese arms exports rose by 38 per cent between 2008-12 and 2013-17, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks the global arms trade.