Kathmandu, March 26

The China Study Centre today said the official visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to the People’s Republic of China has taken the bilateral relations to a new height.

The centre, in a press statement issued today, noted that the visit has also contributed to strengthening the relationship existing between Nepal and China, citing that as many as 10 significant agreements on areas of strategic importance for the development of Nepal have been signed during the visit.

It further stated the agreements have opened up new avenues for increased mutual collaboration and cooperation and continued Chinese economic assistance and investment in projects of crucial and strategic importance. The agreements and the joint statement issued subsequently cover a wide range of areas of mutual interest and concern relating to transit and international trade, railways, aviation, road and bridge construction, free trade and banking, infrastructure development, energy, tourism, education culture and intellectual property.

The centre regards the signing of Transit Transport Treaty between Nepal and China as an achievement of unprecedented historical importance which will go a long way in diversifying Nepal’s international trade and transit interests by facilitating its economic development and alternative route for its free access to the sea.

The statement read, “President Xi’s call to expand practical cooperation to make two nations a ‘community of common destiny’ is highly commendable. China Study Centre-Nepal is of the view that PM Oli’s visit to China, on the heels of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, has added an all too new geo-economic dimension to existing bilateral relations.