Although Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia had to cut short her visit in China due to Wednesday's countrywide bomb blasts, the incident could not overshadow her fruitful interactions with top Chinese leaders and business circles, said a local daily in Dhaka Sunday in its editorial.

A number of bilateral deals and Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) were signed and letters were exchanged to bolster bilateral ties in various fields. This would otherwise bear out some fruitful outcome of the visit by Zia, said an editorial of The Financial Express.

During her visit, Zia urged the businesses of both Bangladesh and China to forge a "strategic partnership" with view to creating an integrated supply chain for the global market. This proposal deserves due consideration by Chinese investors because of the fact that China -- having substantial amount of surplus funds and also supports of technology -- is emerging as an important source of outflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), the editorial said.

Bangladesh has cheap labor while China enjoys no more the benefit of cheap labor thanks to its tremendous economic success in recent years. The combination of all these factors holds out better prospects for Chinese investors in acquiring competitive edge over others in global marketplace by locating their investment sites in Bangladesh, it said.

Meanwhile, the editorial observed what is important now is initiation of follow-up actions, particularly on the part of both the government of Bangladesh and the private sector to facilitate an enabling environment for the prospective Chinese investors. Failures on that count have already deprived the country of sizable foreign investments.

According to the editorial, the relations with China remain to be the cornerstone of Bangladesh's "Look East" policy. The relations between the two countries, which have been traditionally strong, have received further boost in recent years. This is particularly so in view of the fact that the two countries have stepped into the 30th year of establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.

For its own geo-political and economic interests, Bangladesh needs to forge greater cooperation with China, a giant country which by now has acquired enough political and economic strength to offer best possible help to its tiny neighbor in the hours of its need.

Zia's just concluded visit would, therefore, be considered a positive step forward in bringing the two countries further closer, the editorial said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2005)