September 13, 2022
KATHMANDU – Li Zhanshu, head of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress, arrived in Kathmandu on Monday afternoon on a three-day visit at the invitation of Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota.
The 67-member delegation under Li arrived in Kathmandu this afternoon by a special flight, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed after his arrival.
Accompanying Li are officials from the People’s Congress, the Communist Party of China, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Li, en route to South Korea, came to Nepal after completing visits to Russia and Mongolia.
Sapkota, senior government officials and Chinese embassy officials welcomed the visiting dignitary and his delegation.
Li’s visit comes ahead of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China which is set to give another term extension to incumbent President Xi Jinping, and Nepal’s federal and provincial elections scheduled for November 20.
After checking in at Soaltee Hotel, Li and the Chinese delegation left for the parliament building for delegation-level talks with Sapkota
Photo courtesy: Speaker’s Secretariat
Sapkota is accompanied by chief whips and whips of political parties representing the parliament and members of the Nepal-China Parliamentary Forum, according to the parliament secretariat.
Sapkota and Li will oversee a signing ceremony where two memorandums of understanding related to the exchange of parliamentarians between the federal parliament of Nepal and the Chinese People’s Congress, as well as cooperation between the two institutions, will be signed, according to the parliament secretariat.
Later in the evening, the Chinese delegation will participate in a dinner hosted by the Speaker in honour of the visiting Chinese delegation. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and top leaders of the major parties are expected to be present at the dinner.
On Tuesday, the second day of his visit, Li will call on the Chairman of the National Assembly Ganesh Timilsina at the parliament building following meetings with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, chairman of the CPN (Maoist Centre).
Later on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka will call on Li at Hotel Soaltee. He will then meet Deuba again and discuss the strengthening of bilateral ties between Nepal and China.
On Wednesday, the Chinese delegation will see President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and visit Bhaktapur Durbar Square. The delegation will leave for South Korea after rounding up the Nepal trip on Thursday.
Li’s is the third high-level visit from China after the formation of the Deuba government in July last year.