KATHMANDU: Officials of the Nepal China Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCCI) after their recent visit to China have proposed removing the imbalances in bilateral trade between Nepal and China.

Currently, Nepal suffers a major deficit as far as bilateral trade is concerned. As per figures provided by NCCCI, the deficit in export is Rs 144.4 million, and in import the deficit amounts to Rs 27.3 million while the trade deficit stands at more than Rs 22.48 billion.

"For balance in trade, there has to be zero tariff on Nepalese goods, and we have been lobbying for this not only with the Nepal government but the Chinese government as well. Yet, nothing has been done so far," said NCCCI chairman Rajesh Kaji Shrestha.

According to Shrestha, there are nine major areas that can extensively support Chinese investment, with banking, tourism, mineral and cement, information and technology, education, hydropower, agriculture, Ayurveda, and the medicine industry being the key areas of Chinese investment.

Nepal is wedged between China and India, which are the first and second most populated countries in the world and have attained economic growth at an accelerated rate as well as maintaining strong trade ties with each other, "If we manage to be the transit route to these two countries, the rate of economic and trade growth for Nepal can be strong," added Shrestha. The idea of being the transit route between China and India has been in the pipeline for the last eight years but no progress has been made on this front.

Data provided by NCCCI also show that the year 2011 can be used to target many Chinese tourists. The lead in tourist arrival has been maximum from India, followed by Americans and Europeans while Chinese hold a tight spot, at third place, Shrestha assured that if encouraged properly Chinese tourists would flock to Nepal in 2011.