DHAKA, Dec 14: Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji will pay an official visit to Bangladesh in an apparent bid to firm up bilateral ties between the two countries. The three-day visit begins from 11 January next when Prime Minister Zhu’s special plane lands in Dhaka. He will lead a 130-member entourage that includes senior officials, entrepreneurs and a 20-member media team.

The high level talks between the two sides is likely to be dominated by discussions on how to increase trade and investment and further consolidate the existing bilateral friendly ties between the two countries. The Chinese Prime Minister will be the first head of a government to visit Dhaka after the new Khaleda Zia government took over office in early October.

The Chinese leader has just completed a similar official visit to Myanmar that began on Dec 12 while President Pervez Musharraf is scheduled to pay an official visit to China from Dec 20. President Musharraf is also expected to make a short hour-long stop over at Dhaka on his way back home from China, official sources said.

Diplomatic circles in Dhaka are attaching significance to the Chinese leader’s visit to Dhaka on the eve of the seven-member SAARC summit in Kathmandu scheduled later in January. Earlier in May this year, Prime Minister Zhu visited Maldives, Pakistan and Nepal. During the Chinese Prime Minister’s visit to those countries, a number of bilateral agreements were signed. However, soon after the Zhu visit to Kathmandu, Nepal’s King Birendra and his entire family was massacred in the royal palace under mysterious circumstances.