PM Oli to embark on 4-day China visit

 Kathmandu, Dec. 1

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli of Nepal is embarking on a 4-day official visit of China on Monday, December 2.

He will depart for Beijing from the Tribhuvan International Airport after interacting with journalists at 9:00 AM.

PM Oli will meet President of China, Xi Jinping in Beijing, and is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang and exchange views on matters of mutual interest, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

The MoFA also said that connectivity projects, trade and investment, agriculture and tourism sector development are the top agenda that will be discussed during PM Oli’s meeting with Premier Li.

This time, Nepal’s agenda will be to implement the past agreements signed with the northern neighbour. The ruling coalition has also agreed on accepting grant-based projects rather than loan-based.

While the Government of Nepal is planning to request the Chinese side to convert the loan obtained from China Exim Bank to develop the Pokhara International Airport into grant. For quite some time, the government has been working on this agenda and signalled its interest during the previous high-level exchanges between the two countries.

According to the MoFA, Nepal has also accorded priority to the cross-border connectivity including the all-weather highway and railways. These are the projects under considerations for more than one and a half decades and gained momentum during the Indian blockade in 2015/2016.

Under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Nepal wants Chinese supports in such projects.

Meanwhile, the private sector has suggested PM Oli to discuss the matters of trade facilitation with the Chinese side since the cross-border trade has become difficult while exports has gone down significantly creating a massive trade imbalance between Nepal and China. In the past few years, imports from China have gone gradually up but exports have remained pathetic.

For example, Nepal imported goods worth Rs. 298.77 billion from China in the last Fiscal Year 2023/24 but could export goods equivalent of just Rs. 2.58 billion creating a trade deficit of Rs. 296.18 billion with China. Traders have long been urging the government to simplify the process and hold talks with Chinese authorities for the smooth transportation of goods from China to Nepal or vice-versa.

PM Oli is also scheduled to have a meeting with Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China. Accoridng to the MoFA, he will also deliver a keynote address at the Peking University, one of the best higher-education institutions in China.

He will also address the Nepal-China Business Forum, which is being jointly hosted by the Embassy of Nepal in Beijing, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

Earlier, these organisations had held Nepal-China Business Forum in September 2023 during the visit of PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda.

This top-level visit from Nepal to China is happening after about 13 months while this will be the third official visit of PM Oli to China. He had made entourages of the northern neighbour in March 2016 and June 2018.

During his past visits, Nepal signed historic Transit and Transport Agreement with China opening third country access for trade via Chinese territory. There were agreements to develop connectivity, infrastructure and tourism projects as well. The countries had also agreed for energy, investment and human resource cooperation, and expedite the bilateral projects being implemented in Nepal.

PM Oli’s delegation will be comprised of his spouse Radhika Shakya, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba, PM’s Chief Advisor Bishnu Prasad Rimal, Economic and Development Advisor Yuba Raj Khatiwada, members of the parliament; high-ranking government officials; representatives of the private sector and media persons.

Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal, Finance Secretary, Dr. Ram Prasad Ghimire, Acting Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai, and CEO of the Investment Board of Nepal Sushil Gyawali are also the members of his delegation. 

PM Oli and his delegation will return to Kathmandu on Thursday, December 5. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 2 December 2024.