Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Kathmandu on Saturday on a two-day state visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed.

At the invitation of President Bidya Devi Bhandari, the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, is paying a state visit to Nepal on October 12 and 13, said the ministry in a statement on Wednesday.

During the visit, Xi will meet with President Bhandari, who will host a banquet in honour of the Chinese president and his delegation.

“President Xi will hold delegation level official talks with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli,” said the ministry. “Following the talks, both leaders will witness the signing of bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding.”

During his stay in Kathmandu, senior Nepali leaders will call on Xi.

Preparations in Kathmandu were already in full swing for the high level visit from the northern neighbour, but the official confirmation was yet to be made.

The confirmation from Kathmandu follows a communication from Beijing to New Delhi about Xi’s visit to Mamallapuram in India on Friday.

Xi will be flying to Kathmandu from Mamallapuram near Chennai in India where the Chinese president and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be meeting on October 11 and 12 (Friday and Saturday) for the second ‘informal summit’ after the Wuhan Summit in April last year.

It will be the first visit by a Chinese president to Nepal in 23 years since Jiang Zemin visited in 1996.