Nepal-China agree to promote economic cooperation
Kathmandu: The tenth meeting of Nepal-China Consultative Mechanism concluded in Beijing with an agreement in principle to extend mutual assistance.
According to a press release issued by the Foreign Ministry, both delegations noted with satisfaction the excellent state of bilateral relations, shared views on bilateral and international matters of common interest, and underlined the importance of further promoting cooperation for peace, progress and prosperity of the two countries and the peoples in future.
Foreign Secretary Arjun Bahadur Thapa led the Nepali delegation while Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China Liu Zhenmin led the Chinese side.
They held discussions on a wide range of issues on bilateral relations, development cooperation, and the projects launched under Chinese assistance. Also, they discussed the cooperation in the field of trade, tourism and investment.
The meeting also focused on matters relating to economic and technical assistance, infrastructure development, and facilitation of trade, customs procedures, quarantine, visa relaxation, and cultural promotion, among others.
While appreciating the Government of China for its support to Nepal´s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and national unity, Secretary Thapa also reiterated Nepal´s stand on One-China policy and reaffirmed the commitment of the Government of Nepal not to allow its territory for any anti-China activities, RSS reports.
Likewise, China has agreed Nepal’s proposal for setting up a Consulate General in Guangzhou during a meeting of the foreign ministry-level consultative mechanism held in China. Nepal had proposed to the Chinese government to set up a consulate general in Guangzhou recently.
China is interested to set up a Consulate General office in Pokhara. During the meeting, the two sides discussed the issue of setting up a Consulate General in Pokhara on a reciprocal basis.
So far, Nepal has three diplomatic missions in China, including the embassy in Beijing and the Consulate Generals in Lhasa and Hong Kong.
August 28, 2013
