Nepali VP to visit trade fair in China

Kathmandu, July 3 (IANS) Nepali Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun will participate in the 23rd Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair in China as the guest of honour, an aide said on Monday.

Manoj Gharti Magar said the high-profile delegation to the July 6-9 event in China's western city of Lanzhou will comprise of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vice President's Office, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Nepali delegation will leave for China on Tuesday to attend the event with a theme highlighting the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

High-level participation of Nepal in the fair is an opportunity to jointly push forward the Belt and Road Initiative as well as cementing the age-old China-Nepal friendship, officials said.

Nepal and China are expected to promote cooperation in connectivity, free trade arrangements and post-disaster reconstruction under a cooperation agreement signed on May 12 within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"Nepal wants to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative and expand mutually beneficial cooperation so as to move forward the comprehensive cooperative partnership featuring ever-lasting friendship between the two countries," Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi said.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.