Online Desk: Chinese Communist Party’s Vice Minister of the International Department Sun Haiyan is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka tonight to have meetings with Bangladesh leadership.

The Chinese Vice Minister, now visiting the Maldives, will have a number of meetings during her stay in Dhaka.

Though there has been no official announcement yet, the Chinese Vice Minister is likely to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and others, said a diplomatic source.

This is going to be the first visit by any senior Chinese politician after the formation of the new Cabinet led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

On January 11, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Sheikh Hasina on her reelection as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

President Xi hoped that Bangladesh and China would make joint efforts to further implement the important consensus he reached with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Johannesburg, South Africa, last August, enhance political mutual trust, promote traditional friendship, further synergize development strategies, and promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, so as to uplift the China-Bangladesh Strategic Partnership of Cooperation to a new height.

On the same day, Chinese Premier of State Council Li Qiang sent a congratulatory message to Sheikh Hasina on her reelection as Prime Minister of Bangladesh, saying China and Bangladesh are close neighbours with long-established friendship and development partners of close cooperation. In recent years, China and Bangladesh have deepened political mutual trust and achieved fruitful results in Belt and Road cooperation.