Nepal’s Ambassador to China Leela Mani Paudyal takes an exclusive interview with Xinhuanet in Beijing, capital of China, March 1, 2018. (Xinhuanet photo)
China’s continued economic growth is important for global economic growth, prosperity and stability, said Leela Mani Paudyal, Nepal’s ambassador to China in a recent interview with Xinhuanet.
China’s impressive economic growth will bring more funds, more technologies, more people, more know-how, more markets to Nepal, he said.
In 2017, China's GDP grew 6.9 percent year on year and its contribution to world economic growth stood at around 30 percent, according to the communique on economic and social development released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on Feb. 28.
The ambassador said that China’s impressive economy has been able to grow continuously without any setbacks because of the reform and opening up policy.
The reform and opening-up has helped China to convert its assembling industries into quality production and quality growth, he added.
As China is pushing for a new pattern of all-round opening up, Nepal will have more access to China’s technology, funds and markets, he noted.
The ambassador said he visited China for the first time in 1999. He highlighted the impressive changes in China, saying the “expeditious expansion of high-quality infrastructure” is unimaginable and marvelous.
He also said he was deeply impressed by China’s technological advancement and innovation.
He gave an example of the high-speed train. He said the high-speed train used to be “a very aristocratic mode of transportation” in the world before China entered the business.
But now with China’s technological advancement and innovation, it has become a common transport for many travelers.
Nepal and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2017.
Since then there has been more cooperation between the two countries.
According to the ambassador, Nepal received the largest foreign direct investment from China in 2017.
In addition, there have been more exchanges of high-level political delegations and people-to-people exchanges, he said.
There are more Nepalese students studying in China as well, he added.
He believed this “has promoted mutual understanding, trust and confidence”.
The ambassador pointed out that 2017 was one of the most important years in terms of Nepal-China relations, looking forward to more bilateral cooperation this year.
