China will provide grant assistance of RMB 500 million or approximately $72.57 million to Bangladesh under an agreement on economic and technical cooperation between Bangladesh and China.

The grant shall be utilised for the welfare projects such as disaster management, bridge construction and so on. Detailed matters will be stipulated in separate agreements to be signed between the two sides. The Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Monowar Ahmed and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Zhang Zuo signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides at the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area yesterday.

After signing of the agreement, ERD Secretary Monowar Ahmed said that for Bangladesh the economic ties with China are of greater significance as China is now the largest trading partner of Bangladesh.

He also requested the Chinese Ambassador to expedite the process for signing the other financial agreements which are in the pipeline.

Chinese Ambassador said the friendship between the two countries is a long lasting one and China always attaches greater importance to the development assistance of Bangladesh.