The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: The Chinese government has agreed in principle to extend the repayment period for loans that Bangladesh availed from China.
Beijing has also assured Dhaka that it will look into the request to lower the interest rate to ease the pressure of repayment of foreign debt on Bangladesh, reported The Daily Star.
The development came after Bangladesh’s Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain had a bilateral meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on his four-day visit to China.
The total loans disbursed by China to Bangladesh since 1975 amounts to &7.5 billion, making the country Bangladesh’s fourth-largest lender.
During his visit to China, Hossain had requested lowering the interest rate on Chinese loans from 2-3 per cent to one per cent.
Quoting Yi, a statement from Beijing on January 21 said that China places Bangladesh at a very important position in her neighbourhood diplomacy.
Touhid’s visit to China was the first bilateral foreign trip of the interim government of Bangladesh, which took charge after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August last year.
“Upon Bangladesh’s request, Foreign Minister Yi conveyed China’s decision to especially designate 3 to 4 recognised hospitals in Kunming for treatment of Bangladeshi patients,” said the Chinese press statement, reported The Business Standard.
Yi said that China respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bangladesh and also reiterated continued Chinese support for the stability, reforms, democratic transition, and development initiatives of Bangladesh.