Kathmandu, May 13: Nepal and China are preparing to step up bilateral engagement, with both sides planning a series of high-level meetings in the coming weeks to push forward stalled cooperation projects. Governments love meetings about projects that should already be moving, but this one may actually matter.
Officials said the third meeting of the mechanism overseeing Nepal-China cooperation programmes is likely to be held in Kathmandu on June 2. The meeting will review progress on Chinese-funded projects, identify delays and discuss ways to speed up implementation.
Amrit Bahadur Rai and Zhang Maoming will lead their delegations. Nepal’s foreign ministry has already collected updates from various ministries on projects funded by China.
Officials say Beijing appears increasingly focused on identifying bottlenecks in projects and resolving them. Chinese support to Nepal includes grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans, mostly for infrastructure, energy, education and development.
Major projects under discussion include the Syaphrubesi-Rasuwagadhi highway repair, the Chilime-Rasuwagadhi-Kerung 220 kV transmission line, the Nepal-China cross-border railway linking Kerung and Kathmandu, and the second phase of the Kathmandu Ring Road expansion. Other projects include the Bir Hospital extension in Duwakot, the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel road, the Mailung-Syabrubesi tunnel, the Hilsa border bridge, Damak industrial park and Narayanghat-Butwal road upgrade.
The two sides are also expected to discuss 10 projects listed under the Belt and Road Initiative framework, signed during Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit to Beijing in December 2024. Progress on most of these projects has been slow, with several still stuck at concept or pre-feasibility stage.
China has completed the feasibility study for the Kerung-Kathmandu cross-border railway and is expected to hand over the report by the end of June. Letters have also been exchanged to move ahead with the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel and the 96-km Hilsa-Simkot road in Karnali.
Another round of talks, the 17th Nepal-China joint consultation mechanism, is also expected in China later in June. Meanwhile, Cao Jing and senior officials from Tibet’s regional government are set to visit Nepal, signalling that Kathmandu-Beijing ties are entering another active phase after months of slow movement.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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