Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao arrived in Bangladesh Thursday on a two-day visit aimed at boosting bilateral trade, economic and technical ties, officials said. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia welcomed Wen at Dhaka's Zia International Airport, where the Chinese leader also inspected a guard of honor. Zia planned to ask her Chinese counterpart to increase direct investment in her impoverished South Asian country, and give duty-free access to more of its products to lucrative Chinese markets, Bangladesh's top foreign ministry bureaucrat Hemayetuddin told reporters. Some 22 Chinese companies have invested US$102.25 million (¤79.35 million) in Bangladesh, employing around 23,000 people. China has already agreed to give duty-free access to 84 Bangladeshi items by 2006. Zia and Wen were also likely to review bilateral ties in agriculture, flood management and education, as well as explore new areas of cooperation such as transport links, crime control and tourism, said Hemayetuddin, who uses one name. --more 1337 Local Time 1037 GMT
