Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus departed for China this afternoon on a four-day visit -- his first bilateral trip since assuming office on August 8 last year.

He left Dhaka at 1:00pm on a special China Southern Airlines flight, the Chief Adviser's Press Wing confirmed.

The visit coincides with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and China.

Yunus is leading a 57-member delegation including Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain, officials and security personnel in a flight dispatched by the Chinese government.

Yunus is scheduled to deliver a speech tomorrow at the opening plenary session of the Boao Forum for Asia, often referred to as the "Asian Davos."
He will also hold separate meetings with China's Executive Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and key business leaders.
On March 28, he is set to meet President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. During the visit, he is also expected to tour a high-tech enterprise under Huawei and give an interview to a leading Chinese media outlet.

On March 29, Peking University will confer an honorary doctorate on Yunus, where he will deliver a speech.
Bangladesh and China are expected to sign several agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) covering economic and technical assistance, human resource development, disaster mitigation, sports cooperation, and media collaboration.
Other agreements include establishing a Chinese book centre and supporting the translation and publication of Chinese classical literature.