China and Nepal upgrade ties
Countries agree to strategic partnership of cooperation
KATHMANDU: China and Nepal have agreed to upgrade their relations to a strategic partnership of cooperation featuring everlasting friendship for development and prosperity.
The agreement was made and announced on Saturday when Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Nepali counterpart Bidya Devi Bhandari.
Xi said he came to Nepal as scheduled after Bhandari warmly invited him for a visit this year when they met in Beijing in April.
Xi said he saw sincere smiles on the faces of the Nepali people and felt the friendship from the depth of their hearts toward the Chinese people.
He added that he felt once again that the China-Nepal friendship enjoyed a broad consensus and solid foundation in Nepal.
“Our two peoples have shared weal and woe, and set an example of friendly exchanges between neighbouring countries,” said Xi.
He hoped to carry forward the traditional friendship and take bilateral ties to a new and higher level via the visit.
Xi called on the two sides to consolidate the political foundation of bilateral ties and set the building of a community with a shared future as a long-term goal for the development of China-Nepal relations.
He also appreciated Nepal’s firm adherence to the one-China policy, saying that China would as always support Nepal in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. The two sides should build an allround cooperation pattern, carry out the construction of a trans-Himalayan connectivity network and expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields, Xi said.
For her part, Bhandari warmly welcomed Xi’s state visit to Nepal and congratulated China on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
She added that Nepal was willing to learn from China’s successful experience of development.