“The organisers have requested the presence of our president,” Mahesh Maskey, Nepali ambassador to China, said.  “The conference has a great significance to Nepal as the Chinese president will also be present there.”

Zhou Wenzhong, secretary general of BFA, had invited Yadav through the Nepali embassy in Beijing more than a month ago.

The annual conference is scheduled to take place from March 26 until 29 of the month in the city of Boao in China’s Hainan province. More than 10 heads of governments and nations will address the opening session on March 28. President Yadav will join this list if his visit is confirmed. He could also meet President Xi in the sidelines of the conference, which could pave way for the latter’s expected visit to Nepal.

Although the Nepal government is positive regarding the President Yadav’s visit to China, nothing has been finalised yet, Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey said.

“The president’s visit could be fruitful for both Nepal and China, though his visit will merely be a goodwill one since he does not have the executive power,” Minister Pandey added.

Dinesh Bhattarai, foreign affairs adviser to Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, said that the participation of Nepali delegation in BFA will be highly significant for the country.

“It will be the first meeting of a high-level Nepali delegation with the Chinese leadership,  which could further strengthen our bilateral relations,” Bhattarai said.

Saying that preparations are also underway for Prime Minister Koirala’s visit to China within this year, Bhattarai said that it could eventually pave way for the visit of Chinese President Xi to Nepal.

BFA is a non-governmental not-for-profit international organisation committed for the development of Asian nations by promoting regional economic integration. The forum has established a reputation for inviting world leaders and business people to share their knowledge, opinion, and views.

The last time Nepal participated in the BFA annual conference was in 2005, when ex-king Gyanendra and the then deputy chief of the council of ministers, Kriti Nidhi Bista, represented the country. Nepal was not invited in the subsequent years due to internal strife in the country.