Feature: Exporters see China as potential market for Nepali carpets

KATHMANDU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chhiring Lama, co-owner of the Himalaya Tsultrim Carpet Industries, has been exporting carpets to China for the last three years with a gradual rise in exports.

Lama is optimistic about increasing demand for Nepali carpets in one of the largest markets in the world through more marketing activities in China in the coming days.

"My carpet export is largely concentrated in the Tibetan region of China currently," he said. "We're exploring the market for high-end handmade Nepali carpets in China."

The exporter has made plans to participate in carpet-focused exhibitions in different cities in China and explore opportunities for Nepal's high-end carpets.

Nepal's overall exports to China are limited, and carpets emerged as the country's largest export item to its northern neighbor in the 2023-24 fiscal year, which ended in mid-July.

The South Asian country exported China carpets worth 391.6 million Nepali rupees (2.93 million U.S. dollars) in 2023-24, while the total exports to China stood at 2.58 billion rupees, according to figures released by Nepal Rastra Bank, the country's central bank.

In the past fiscal year, Nepal's export of carpets totaled 10.57 billion rupees, the bank noted.

The U.S. and European countries have been the major markets for Nepali carpets, while Nepal does not have a long history of exporting carpets to China commercially, as noted by Lama.

"We have been exploring the Chinese market only in the last few years," he explained. "There is a huge potential in the Chinese market as China is increasingly becoming affluent to afford high-quality carpets."

The U.S. is the largest market for Nepali carpets, and Nepal sent in carpets worth 6.38 billion rupees in 2023-24, according to Nepal's Trade and Export Promotion Center.

Nepali exporters see China as an emerging market for Nepali carpets, as Balram Gurung, the proprietor of Everest Loom, is planning to export carpets to China for the first time.

Since returning from a trade show in Shanghai in May, he has been receiving orders for his carpets.

"I have already received some orders from Chinese buyers," said Gurung, also general secretary of the Nepal Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association. "I'm hopeful that China will emerge as a big destination for Nepali carpets." (1 rupee equals 0.012 U.S. dollars)