Kathmandu, September 24 Leader of the Communist Party of China visiting Nepal Song Tao today called on President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Nepal Communist Party Co-chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal. During his meeting with Bhandari at the latter’s official residence, Song said China was always in favour of Nepal’s development. Song, who heads the CPC’s International Liaison Department, said to achieve development, political parties in Nepal should enhance their capacity and be strong, according to the president’s advisor Sushil Pyakurel. Song said the MoU between the CPC and the NCP was in line with the idea of strengthening the NCP. In her reply, Bhandari said Nepal was not a people’s republic, but federal democratic republic, and that any party could come to power through the election process. That’s why, she said, the CPC should have harmonious relations with all Nepali parties because Nepal-China relations were above party-to-party relations, according to Pyakurel. The meeting between Dahal and Song at a hotel in Kathmandu mostly dwelt on activities of the communist parties of the two countries. Dahal thanked the CPC for extending cooperation to Nepal and Nepali people. He stressed the need for further strengthening relation between the two parties through continuous experience sharing. “I expect additional support from the Chinese government and the CPC in Nepal’s development endeavours,” Dahal’s secretariat quoted him as saying, during the metering. Song stressed on the need for building a common platform for experience sharing between the two parties. Stating that ideology was one of the biggest assets of a communist party, Song said both the parties should work in further strengthening their ideologies. “Parties can win people’s heart only through development,” said Song was quoted as saying by Dahal’s secretariat during the meeting. Yesterday, Song had called on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at the latter’s official residence, in Baluwatar. According to Oli’s Press Advisor Kundan Aryal, Song said his Nepal visit was also part of preparations for upcoming Nepal visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Prime Minister Oli said he hoped Xi’s Nepal visit would be fruitful. Song is in Nepal to attend the two-day ‘Communist Party of China’s Opinion about Xi Jinping Thought and Ideological Discussion between Nepal Communist Party and Communist Party of China’ that kicked off here yesterday.