Gyirong Customs, affiliated with Lhasa Customs, in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, completes the customs clearance supervision of the first batch of imported goods from Nepal after the resumption of two-way trade on December 28, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of Lhasa Customs

China's energy-efficient and innovative new-energy products have greatly reduced carbon emissions and made new energy affordable, particularly for marginalized people, Leela Mani Paudyal, a former Nepali ambassador to China, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Monday, calling for a closer cooperation between China and Nepal in the booming new-energy sector.

Paudyal, who was also the chief secretary of the Government of Nepal, gave a clear response to the so-called overcapacity rhetoric of the US-led West targeting the Chinese new-energy sector, particularly the new-energy vehicle (NEV) industry, saying that the allegation is "groundless."

China's increasing EV exports are the result of advanced technology and the efficient production of EV products, including lithium-ion batteries, Paudyal said, noting that "the cries to impose countervailing duties without any proof of China subsidizing car production, is against the principle of the open liberal market regime." 
"Manufacturing efficiency is the source of prosperity and sustainable growth. Discouraging efficiency and productivity goes against global prosperity and growth," Paudyal added.

"Westerners espoused the open market regime as a panacea for economic development and prosperity. Now, they have failed to compete with China and are advocating increased tariffs on Chinese products made with open market principles... this hypocrisy and double standard must be exposed," he said.

In 2023, 4,867 NEVs were exported to Nepal from ports in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, an increase of 842.04 percent year-on-year, according to a report by the Xizang Daily. Chinese brands such as BYD were the main exports to the country in recent years.

As of October 2023, BYD had opened 12 stores in Nepal, according to the Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of China in Nepal, citing The Himalayan Times.

China has come forward with an explicit and most comprehensive environmentally friendly development strategy and is actively pursuing it. As a result, China is far ahead of any other country in terms of investment, innovation, production and promotion of eco-friendly and energy-efficient products, Paudyal said.

China has shown a willingness "to work with the international community to advance environmental conservation, promote green development, protect the green Earth, and build a cleaner and more beautiful world," Paudyal said, noting that China's energy-efficient and innovative new-energy products have greatly reduced carbon emissions and made new energy affordable for marginalized people.

Paudyal said that the EV sector is sharply increasing in Nepal, with imports surging by 158.31 percent from mid-August 2023 to mid-January 2024, showing that the booming industry offers high potential for cooperation between China and Nepal.
 
It is highly pertinent that Nepal can and should work together with China in the production and promotion of new-energy related products, including EVs, he said.

Leela Mani Paudyal Photo: Yin Yeping/GT