Nepal, China ink 18 MoUs during Xi visit

Nepal and China inked 18 MoUs and two letters of exchange on Sunday during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first such high level visit in over two decades.

Officials from Nepal and China signed the agreements on various issues in the presence of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Xi on Sunday.

The instruments are related to the partnership between government bodies including the ministries of home; foreign affairs; physical infrastructure and transport; agriculture and livestock development and industry, commerce and supply.

Foreign ministers from Nepal and China as well as finance, home and foreign secretaries, and secretaries at related ministries and the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yaunqi signed and exchanged the memorandums of understanding and letters of exchange, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Xi arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday in a first visit by a sitting Chinese president to Nepal in over two decades.

While addressing a banquet hosted by Bhandari on Saturday evening, the Chinese president announced Rs 56 billion economic assistance for Nepal for the next two years -- 2020 to 2022.

Before the banquet, Xi held talks with Nepali Congress President and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. During the meeting, Deuba said that his party appreciated Chinese investments that go towards Nepal's development efforts.

On Sunday morning, Xi held talks with ruling Nepal Communist Party Co-chair and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. According to Dahal's secretariat, the two leaders discussed ways to deepen relations between the two countries and the two parties.

Xi and the Chinese delegation departed for Beijing on Sunday afternoon.