Liu Qibao, a senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party and head of the party’s propaganda department, is arriving in Kathmandu on Saturday. 

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Liu, during his visit, will inaugurate the seventh China Festival in Kathmandu, will pay courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal among others. He is also scheduled to launch a book during a function of the China Study Centre in Kathmandu. 

The China Festival, to be inaugurated by PM Dahal, is being organised by the Ministries of Culture of Nepal and China Liu will be the first senior Chinese official to visit Nepal after Dahal took office as the prime minister in August.

Liu’s CPC team members will also hold discussions about the political situation in Nepal as part of an assessment for the possible visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal in the first half 2017.

Discussions are also likely on PM Dahal’s possible visit to China. 

“The two sides are yet to exchange all the agendas, but we will explore chances of PM Dahal’s visit to China and the possibility of Chinese President Xi’s visit to Nepal. We will certainly discuss these issues,” a source close to PM Dahal told the Post.

Other issues like Chinese assistance and status of China-funded projects in Nepal will also be discussed, said the official. A preparatory team has already arrived in Kathmandu to lay the ground for Liu’s visit. 

Sources said Nepali officials are viewing Liu’s visit as a significant one, as he is one of the influential leaders in the CPC whose evaluation and assessment on various matters, including the Chinese president’s possible visit to Nepal, count.