Beijing 'positive' about letting Bangladeshi students visit for higher education

Khalilur Rahman, the chief advisor’s top aide, has said China has responded positively about providing higher education opportunities to Bangladeshi students.

On Sunday, he spoke about many Bangladeshi students studying in China and said more will join them in future.

Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus returned to Dhaka on Saturday after a four-day state trip to China.

“We’ve spent 50 fine years of our relationship with China. The chief advisor and President Xi Jinping have established a strong foundation to strengthen our bilateral relationship over the next 50 years. One of these is water resources and another is industrialisation,” Khalilur said.

You’ve already seen Bangladeshi students at the special convocation of Peking University. A significant number of Bangladeshi students study in other provinces as well.

Khalilur brought up the imminent visit of the governor of Kunming in April, where education would be a key point of discussion.

Bangladesh and China have signed an agreement on economic and technical cooperation and eight memoranda of understanding on translation and production of classics, exchanges and cooperation on cultural heritage, news exchange, media, sports and health sectors.

He said engagement with educational institutions was key to enhancing “people-to-people contact”.

“The chief advisor told every leader in China and at Peking University, where he was an honorary professor many years ago, that ‘We want thousands of Bangladeshi students, not just one or two, to study in China.”