Bangladesh leader Yunus meets China’s President Xi

The head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, state media reported.

This is Yunus’ first bilateral state visit since he took over as the South Asian nation’s interim leader last August following the ouster of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina stepped down and fled to neighboring India in the wake of a student-led mass uprising against her rule.

Bangladesh has been grappling with political infighting ever since.

Hasina’s government shared close ties with India but relations between the two sides have been strained since her ouster, providing an opportunity for Beijing to cultivate closer ties with Dhaka.

Close trade and investment ties

While Bangladesh and India share deep historical, cultural and linguistic ties, China is Bangladesh’s largest trading partner and a major investor.

Bangladesh is of strategic importance to China. Its location in the eastern part of the Indian Ocean means it is ideally situated for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Xi’s signature project aimed at boosting China’s economic and political influence by implementing a raft of infrastructure projects and trade networks worldwide.

Bangladesh, with its 172 million people, also offers a huge market in the region for China’s export-oriented economy.