Dhaka: Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Friday urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to continue their assistance for Bangladesh’s various activities, especially the development ones, and always stand by it.

The BNP chief made the call during a meeting with the visiting Chinese President at a city hotel — Hotel Le Meridien — in the evening.

At the meeting that lasted for nearly half an hour from 5:30pm, Khaleda and Xi Jinping discussed various bilateral issues, said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir while briefing reporters after the meeting.

He said Khaleda mentioned at the meeting that then President Ziaur Rahman had established Bangladesh’s diplomatic ties with China.  ‘Later, an overwhelming relation developed between the two countries that still continues,’ she said.

The BNP chairperson also described China as Bangladesh’s important and genuine friend, Fakhrul said.

During the meeting, he said, the Chinese President expressed the hope that Bangladesh will support the role China is playing in the geological field and the development activities it is carrying out.

BNP standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mahbubur Rahman and Nazrul Islam Khan, chairperson’s advisers Reaz Rahman and Sabihuddin Ahmed were present at the meeting.

The Chinese President arrived here on a historic state visit in the morning.