Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is on an official visit to China, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on December 3, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in Beijing on Tuesday, pledging efforts to advance its strategic partnership of cooperation with Nepal.

Expressing appreciation for Oli's firm commitment to promoting friendship between the two sides over a long period of time, Xi said China and Nepal, linked by the same mountains and rivers, are good neighbors, good friends and good partners, and bilateral relations have maintained sound and steady development.

Noting that next year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, Xi said China places Nepal in an important position in its neighborhood diplomacy, and is willing to work with Nepal to consolidate their traditional friendship and push for new progress in advancing the China-Nepal strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity.

Stressing that China respects Nepal's choice to follow a development path suited to its national conditions, Xi said that China supports Nepal in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. China is ready to work with Nepal to consolidate strategic mutual trust and provide staunch support on issues concerning each other's core interests, he added.

Xi expressed China's willingness to deepen pragmatic cooperation with Nepal, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and strengthen cooperation in such fields as ports, transportation, power grids and communication.

China is ready to continue offering assistance to Nepal's economic and social development within its capacity, and to encourage Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Nepal, Xi said.

He noted that China supports Nepal's declaration of 2025 as Nepal Visit Year in China, and welcomes Nepali friends to travel to China for business, tourism and study.

China is willing to strengthen coordination with Nepal within multilateral platforms such as the United Nations, with the aim of defending the common interests of developing countries, Xi said.

Oli said that as a friend of China, Nepal is deeply proud of and inspired by China's remarkable development achievements, and hopes to learn from China's experience to boost its own development.

Noting that there are no problems, only friendship, between Nepal and China, Oli thanked China for providing various valuable support to Nepal. Nepal welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest in the country and deepen cooperation in various fields, he said.

Both Xizang and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China's territory, Oli said. Stressing that Nepal firmly adheres to the one-China principle, he said the country will not allow any force to use its territory for anti-China activities or to harm China's interests, and that Nepal opposes any foreign interference in China's internal affairs.

A joint statement by the People's Republic of China and Nepal was also issued on Tuesday.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee Zhao Leji also held talks with Nepali Prime Minister Oli in Beijing on Tuesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Strive for new progress

As the two neighboring countries celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, experts expect Oli's visit to further advance bilateral ties to a new height, deepen the traditional friendship by accelerating practical cooperation in various fields, and boost the two sides' coordination on regional issues of mutual interest. 

As some Indian media have hyped that Oli has broken the "tradition" of a Nepalese leader by visiting China first instead of India, experts emphasized that cooperation between China and Nepal does not target any third party, instead, the two are always committed to promoting regional development, peace and stability.

Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow with the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that the choice of China as the first foreign country to visit after Oli took office in July shows that the Nepalese government attaches great importance to China-Nepal relations and regards the development of relations with China as the main direction of its diplomatic work.

Qian Feng, director of the research department of the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, said that making Nepal's economy "catch the express train" of China's high-quality economic development is the main focus of his visit.

China and Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative in May 2017. President Xi paid a state visit to Nepal in October 2019.  

Qian said due to political changes in Nepal and the impact of the pandemic, some cooperation between the two countries cannot be smoothly implemented. "Prime Minister Oli hopes to make up for lost time." 

In addition to meetings with Chinese leaders, the Nepalese prime minister is scheduled to address the Nepal-China Business Forum and deliver a keynote speech at Peking University, according to a release from Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

For China, Nepal is not only an important BRI partner, but also, as a close and friendly neighbor, plays an important role in contributing to maintaining social security and stability in ethnic areas in Xizang, Qian said.

Not targeting third party

Indian media has been closely following Oli's China visit. Calling Oli "a pro-China leader," Indian media the Hindustan Times noted that Oli broke with "the usual practice of Nepali prime ministers making India their first destination in the neighborhood after assuming charge, amid media reports that he did not get an invitation from New Delhi."

India's Business Standard described Oli as a "veteran communist politician," who "seeks to reduce its traditional dependence on India." The media outlet also raised "debt concerns" regarding a $216 million loan from China to build an international airport in Pokhara.

The development of bilateral relations between China and Nepal is in the fundamental interests of the two nations and their people and leaves no room for a third party to sow discord about it, Qian said. 

China respects Nepal's right to independent development and hopes India, which has significance influence on Nepal, refrains from meddling and interfering in Nepal as in the past, Qian stated.

For Hu, the friendly development of China-Nepal relations between China and Nepal is objectively of great importance to enhancing China's influence in South Asia. But some in India are overly nervous and sensitive about the visit of Nepal's Prime Minister to China. 

"New Delhi should not overly interpret the China-Nepal cooperation, which does not target any third party… Instead, the cooperation is conducive to promoting regional common development and safeguarding regional stability."

Hu stressed that many South Asian countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives have achieved their own development by participating in BRI projects. "The BRI is a big cake for cooperation. Nepal wants to share the cake as well," Hu said.

According to official statistics, China is the second-biggest trade partner of Nepal. Bilateral trade volume between China and Nepal in 2023 was $1.8 billion, an increase of 9.1 percent year-on-year. From January to August 2024, trade volume between China and Nepal was $1.28 billion, surging 18 percent year-on-year.

Bilateral trade between China and Nepal accounts for 17 percent of Nepal's total, according to the Xinhua News Agency, citing Ramesh Aryal, deputy director general of the customs department of Nepal's Ministry of Finance. Meanwhile, India is Nepal's largest trading partner, accounting for more than 65 percent of its total trade, the Kathmandu Post said. 

"Given China's growing strength and influence, especially as China and Nepal both seek to establish a closer cooperative relationship with each other, China's share is bound to rise further… But the trend of India as Nepal's most influential economic partner is also long-standing, given the geographical and cultural advantages of India's relations with Nepal," Qian said.

In fact, in terms of cooperation with Nepal, the two major countries jointly play a more positive role in helping their common neighbor develop its economy and improve people's livelihood, rather than holding a narrow perspective and falling into a vicious competitive relationship, Qian commented.