Nepal reiterates commitment to 'One China Principle', seeks deeper economic ties with China
KATHMANDU: Nepal has reiterated its commitment to the 'One China Principle' and signalled a wish to deepen economic ties with China, officials said at a reception in Kathmandu on Thursday marking the 71st anniversary of diplomatic relations between Nepal and China.
Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai told the gathering that Nepal would not permit its territory to be used against China’s core interests. He called the anniversary “a testament to an everlasting friendship: a friendship that has witnessed shifting global changes and yet remained steadfast in its essential character.”
Rai said relations between Nepal and China rest on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, good neighbourliness, mutual understanding, cooperation and respect for each other’s aspirations and sensitivities. He noted that exchanges at various levels had strengthened ties and that China's President Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal in 2019 had elevated the relationship to a strategic partnership for development and prosperity.
Praising China’s rapid economic development in recent decades, Rai said Nepal is “keen to learn from China’s economic reforms” and to deepen economic engagement with the Chinese economy to create greater opportunities for accelerating Nepal’s own development.
Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Zhang Maoming said political trust between the two countries had continued to deepen and that Belt and Road cooperation had advanced with solid results since Nepal’s new government formed in March. “New progress has been made in cooperation across a wide range of areas, including trade and the economy, infrastructure, connectivity, energy, agriculture, education, health, and tourism,” he said.
“Nepal-China friendship is not merely a political consensus written in diplomatic documents. It also lives in the countless handshakes, encounters, and exchanges between our peoples,” Ambassador Zhang added. He said China stood ready to work with Nepal, based on mutual respect and mutual benefit, to implement the understandings reached by the leaders of the two countries and to advance a Nepal-China community with a shared future.
The winners of the 2026 China-Nepal Friendship Short Video Contest were announced and awarded at the event. Politicians, diplomats, senior government officials, development practitioners and business leaders attended the reception.
(With inputs from RSS)
