FNCCI president urges Chinese ambassador to help reopen Tatopani border point

KATHMANDU: Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) President Anjan Shrestha has urged Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming to help facilitate the immediate reopening of Tatopani customs point.

The request is aimed at mitigating supply-chain disruptions and ensuring a steady flow of goods for businesses and consumers ahead of the peak festive shopping season.

During a meeting with the ambassador on Wednesday, Shrestha said disruptions along key northern trade routes, particularly at the Rasuwagadhi and Korala border points, had placed further strain on Nepal-China supply chains.

The trade bottlenecks emerged after severe flooding along the Bhotekoshi River damaged a bridge on the Rasuwagadhi-Gyirong route, the local customs office, the dry port, or Inland Clearance Depot (ICD), and around 45 kilometres of the 145-kilometre highway linking Kathmandu with the Chinese border.

Ambassador Zhang responded positively to the request for the expedited reopening of the Tatopani customs point to ease the current trade disruptions.

Expressing deep concern over the loss of life and economic devastation caused by the floods on both sides of the border, Zhang said Nepali and Chinese officials were conducting joint field inspections to restore the trade routes as quickly as possible.

He added that China had deployed rapid-response teams to repair roads and critical infrastructure, assuring that all necessary measures were being taken to restore normal daily life and transit.

Shrestha emphasised that sustained cross-border coordination was vital to maintaining trade flows during crises. He also underscored the need for more effective bilateral cooperation to address trade and investment hurdles.

The two sides discussed convening a joint business forum involving the Nepali and Chinese private sectors to develop long-term strategies for trade resilience, economic recovery and commercial expansion.

During the meeting, FNCCI Senior Vice President Sur Krishna Vaidya and Director General Dr Gopal Prasad Tiwari reiterated the importance of sustained cooperation in bilateral trade, investment and long-term economic engagement between Nepal and China.