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Premier Zhu Rongji Arrives in Nepal for Official Visit
Premier Zhu Rongji arrived in Kathmandu Monday for an official visit designed to boost traditional friendship and to intensify mutual beneficial cooperation with the South Asia kingdom bordering China in the Himalayas.
Zhu was met at the airport by Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and his daughter, Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya, Speaker of the House of Representatives Taranath Ranabhat and Chairman of National Assembly Mohammad Mohsin and a host of other senior Nepalese officials.
"China and Nepal are close and cordial neighbors connected by mountains and rivers," Zhu said in a written statement distributed at the airport. "Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1955, thanks to the high attention and personal efforts from our leaders and joint efforts of our peoples, the China-Nepal friendly relations and cooperation have enjoyed sustained, healthy and stable development."
"In the new century we will work further to develop the good-neighborly partnership so that it will grow in strength from generation to generation," Zhu said.
The Chinese premier said he was looking forward to having an in-depth exchange of views with Nepalese leaders on bilateral relations and other questions of mutual interest. He said he would also reach out extensively to friends from various communities in Nepal and explore new channels of cooperation in various fields.
"I hope that my visit will contribute to closer friendship and cooperation between our two countries and peoples and to elevating China-Nepal relations onto a higher level," Zhu said.
Nepal is the second leg of Zhu's five-nation South Asia and Southeast Asia tour, which has taken him to Pakistan and will take him to the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
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