China to strengthen cooperation with Bangladesh in beating pandemic, alleviating poverty: FM

TASHKENT, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Bangladesh in fighting against COVID-19 and alleviating poverty, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Thursday.

China and Bangladesh are good neighbors and friends who always adhere to equity and mutual respect, continue to strengthen friendly cooperation and jointly build the Belt and Road, Wang said during talks with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen, adding that China is willing to work with Bangladesh to maintain the development momentum of their strategic cooperative partnership.

China greatly appreciates Bangladesh's firm support of China's legitimate stance on issues related to China's core interests, he said.

China will support Bangladesh as always in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and upholding international equity and justice, as well as the basic norm of non-interference in internal affairs in international relations, Wang added.

China will continue to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh and is willing to discuss vaccine-related cooperation with Bangladesh, backing its efforts to fight the pandemic, said the minister.

Both sides should jointly oppose politicizing COVID-19 origin-tracing, he said.

China stands ready to provide support and assistance for poverty reduction in Bangladesh through the China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Center, Wang said.

For his part, Momen said Bangladesh always adheres to the one-China principle and firmly supports China on issues related to China's internal affairs such as Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet.

He thanked the Chinese side for providing vaccine assistance to Bangladesh and helping it at a critical moment.

The Bangladeshi side opposes politicizing virus origin-tracing, and hopes to cooperate with China in vaccine production and strengthen cooperation in fighting the pandemic within the framework of the six-nation cooperation mechanism, namely Bangladesh, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

China has set an example for the world in poverty alleviation, he said, and Bangladesh supports China's initiative to establish the China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Center and also hopes to share China's experience in reducing poverty.

Bangladesh hopes that China will continue to play a mediative and constructive role in properly resolving the Rakhine State issue.