Exports to China nearly doubled in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, as the profile of Nepali products rose due to increased participation in China’s trade fairs.

During the review period, Nepal secured export earnings of Rs2.66 billion, up from Rs1.42 billion, according to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) statistics.

Over the period, earnings from wheat flour, tea, noodles, pashmina, woolen carpets and handicraft items surged dramatically. 

Suyash Khanal, director at Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), said demand for Nepali products of late has been increasing from China. “This could have resulted due to a number of factors that includes changing life style of Chinese people with an increase in their per capita income, China offering duty free access to a number of Nepali products and increased publicity of Nepali products in China via trade fair,” Khanal said.    

China provides duty-free, quota-free market access to 8,030 Nepali goods. These include cooking utensils, outfits, footwear, tooth paste and brush, beauty products and toiletry, printing paper, buttons made of animal bone, animal products, medicinal oil and products, pen, daily goods made of feather and plastic products, among others.

As per the TEPC, most of Nepal’s exportable goods qualify for preferential treatment in China. Almost 95 percent of the Nepali exportable goods are eligible for duty-free, quota-free status provided by China, Khanal said.

According to the government record, Nepal’s exports to China reached an all-time high of Rs2.98 billion in 2013-14. However, exports went into freefall after Chinese authorities closed the Tatopani trade route following April 2015 earthquake.

Khanal said a number of Chinese traders have also been buying Nepali goods from the local market to sell them in China. Around 25 percent of Nepal’s total trade with China is done through the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung overland route. Nepal uses the sea port of Kolkata for the rest.

Similarly, many Chinese traders have also been purchasing Nepali products to sell them in the international market.  According to Sheshkanta Gautam, executive director of the National Tea and Coffee Development Board, a number of Chinese traders have been buying Nepali tea to re-export it to other countries including Australia.

Likewise, Buddha statues made out of metal and felt products among other Nepali handicraft items are also among the favourite items of Chinese consumers, shows NRB statistics.

Meanwhile, Nepal imported goods worth Rs127.24 billion from China in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, up 22.3 percent than in the same period a year ago. Telecommunications equipment, electronic goods, machineries, readymade garments, chemical fertilisers, medical equipment and footwear are among the major imports from China.