Hou said the government would encourage Chinese firms to look at the internal rail plan, and that China was already planning to extend the railway from the Tibetan city of Shigatse to Gyirong on the Nepal border.
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Nepal has secured a deal for China to supply it with fuel, as the energy-starved Himalayan nation seeks to deepen ties with Beijing and reduce its reliance on India.
Nepal’s prime minister K. P. Oli signed an agreement with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang during a visit to Beijing this week to give Nepalese traders access to land routes and ports in China, commerce ministry official Rabi Shankar Sainju said.
Stating that the deals have opened new gateway for diversifying Nepal’s trade, the party also stressed on earnest implementation of those pacts.
Oli noted that the aim of his visit was to take the Nepal-China relations to new heights and prepare frameworks for economic cooperation between the two countries.
During the recent Madhesi agitation, Prime Minister Oli and other leaders had alleged that India had imposed an “undeclared blockade” on Nepal to back the Indian-origin Madhesis.
Oli said he was successful in pursuing China for a remarkable financial assistance to Nepal for various projects including on building Pokhara International Airport.
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Nepal and China had sealed 10 separate agreements and memorandums of understanding, including Transit Transport Agreement and Joint Feasibility Study of Free Trade Agreement during the visit of the Nepali prime minister in Beijing. “After all, 98 per cent of Nepal’s third country trade goes through India and to the port of Kolkata”, an official pointed out.
