Bangladesh wants Chinese investment in infrastructure development, equipment manufacturing, light industry, electronics and textile sectors. Bangladesh is the gateway to Asean and South Asian countries and close to China.

Principal exports from Bangladesh to China are woven garments, leather goods, knitwear, jute and jute goods and leather and frozen foods. Imports from China include textiles and textile articles, machinery and mechanical appliance, electrical equipment and products of the chemical and allied industries.

Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports to China in the July-March period of FY17 grew by 27.11 per cent compared to the same period of FY16. The country is now focusing on exports to China especially since China is shifting from production of basic products to high-end and high-tech items and meeting domestic demand for basic products through imports.

Chinese investment in Bangladesh’s port and energy infrastructure, as well as extensive Chinese military assistance, has encouraged the country, part of India’s natural economic hinterland, to maintain a closed border with India.

By mid-1980s, China had become the staunchest international friend of Bangladesh, cementing the relationship with numerous trade and cultural agreements, construction projects, and military transfers. In recent years economic relations between China and Bangladesh have increased manifold. Bangladesh business community has been invited to invest in the Chinese agriculture, automobile and electronics sectors.