Red carpet rolled out as PM Tarique arrives in Beijing
Tarique Rahman arrived in Dalian on Monday from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the second leg of his first overseas visit.
A red carpet was rolled out as Prime Minister Tarique Rahman arrived in Beijing from Dalian by a bullet train after participating at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Dalian city of China.
Tarique, accompanied by his spouse Zubaida Rahman, reached Beijing Chaoyang Railway Station at 5:35pm local time today (24 June).
The premier was accorded with a static guard of honour and a ceremonial welcome on the occasion. From there he was taken to Diaoyutai state guest house in a ceremonial motorcade.
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Earlier, Tarique Rahman left for Beijing by a high speed bullet train from Dalian North Railway Station at 1:58 pm local time.
The prime minister's entourage includes Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit, PM's Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir, Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Adviser Mahdi Amin and Defence Adviser Brigadier General (retd) Dr AKM Shamsul Islam.
Earlier yesterday, Tarique Rahman attended the plenary session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Dalian at the Dalian International Conference Center with WEF President and CEO Alois Zwingli in the chair. Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, Mongolian Prime Minister Nyam-Osoryn Uchral, Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajic and Guinean Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah also attended the session.
PM, Kazakh counterpart discuss boosting bilateral ties in Dalian
The Prime Minister and his Kazakh counterpart Oljas Bektenov discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations and agreed on the need to establish permanent diplomatic missions in each other's capitals to boost cooperation between the two countries.
The discussion took place during a courtesy meeting held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions.
During the meeting, Tarique Rahman stressed the importance of deepening Bangladesh's relations with Kazakhstan and enhancing cooperation in a wide range of areas.
The two leaders agreed that establishing permanent diplomatic missions in Dhaka and Astana will help expand political, economic and people-to-people engagement and create new opportunities for cooperation.
Tarique Rahman also underscored the need for regular interactions between government officials, business leaders and people of the two countries to strengthen mutual understanding and explore new avenues of partnership.
The prime minister's arrival in Beijing marks the start of his official 4-day state visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
During the visit, Tarique is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Premier Li Qiang on Thursday and Friday.
He is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and hold discussions with senior leaders of the Communist Party of China.
According to the programme schedule, Premier Li Qiang will accord a red-carpet reception to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing tomorrow.
The two prime ministers will subsequently lead high-level bilateral talks between Bangladesh and China at the Great Hall of the People, focusing on strengthening cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure development and other areas of mutual interest.
