The 16th round of the Nepal-China diplomatic consultation mechanism meeting is set to be held in Kathmandu on Tuesday. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Sun Weidong, arrived in Kathmandu on Monday for the meeting and paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal will lead the Nepali delegation, which includes senior officials from various ministries, at the diplomatic consultation meeting.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting will focus on overall bilateral relations and cooperation between Nepal and China.

According to officials at the Prime Minister’s Office, China has proposed at least an initial signing of the implementation plan of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Such an initial signing typically leads to a full-fledged signing of an agreement at a later date.

But most likely, the implementation plan of the Belt and Road Initiative will be signed on Tuesday, a senior foreign ministry official said after the meeting between Prime Minister Dahal and Sun. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has forwarded the draft of the BRI implementation plan to the prime minister’s office for final approval. This draft, initially prepared by the Chinese side, was revised by the National Planning Commission in consultation with various line ministries before being forwarded for approval.

If the BRI implementation plan is signed, it will pave the way for project selection, execution and funding modality of the projects to be selected under the BRI.

Nepal and China signed the BRI framework agreement in 2017 and in line with it, China had proposed the implementation plan in early 2020. Due to the divergence of positions over how to take the BRI forward, the plan to sign the implementation plan has been in limbo for four years.

Two officials at the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Post that during the meeting, the two sides would review and assess past agreements and accords signed during high-level visits after 2015. Former Prime Minister KP Oli has twice visited China after 2015, as has incumbent Prime Minister Dahal, while Chinese President Xi Jinping has paid a state visit to Nepal in October 2019.

“The status of bilateral relations as well as the understandings and agreements reached between the two sides after 2015 will be reviewed,” the officials added.

At the meeting, the Nepali side will call for establishing economic and development corridors with China. A proposal to this effect was made by Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shretsha during his China visit in March.

During his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing, Shrestha proposed the creation of an economic and development corridor linking Nepal, Tibet, Sichuan and Chongqing.

Later, the Chinese side proposed expanding the corridor to include two more places: Xian of Shaanxi province and Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, where most Nepali traders are based and export Chinese goods.

According to Shrestha, these proposed corridors aim to enhance ties with the provinces, which in turn will help attract Chinese investments in various sectors, boost trade, lure more Chinese tourists, and pull more investment in areas like information technology, agriculture, mining, and other industries.

The transit and transportation protocol, which was signed in 2019 between the two sides, will also be discussed on Tuesday. The agreement was initially signed in 2018 during Prime Minister Oli’s visit to China, while its protocol was signed in 2019 during President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s visit.

The signing of the protocol made it possible for Nepal to use four Chinese seaports—in Tianjin, Shenzhen, Lianyungang and Zhanjiang—and three land ports—in Lanzhou, Lhasa and Shigatse—for third-country import. It also allows Nepal to carry out exports through six dedicated transit points between Nepal and China, but due to negligence from both sides, the agreement has yet to come into force.

Only two Nepali consignments from third countries have passed via Chinese ports in the past five years, two officials said.

“Now we want to make this agreement functional. This requires upgrading our infrastructure and encouraging our exporters and importers to use Chinese ports for third-country trade,” said an official at the Prime Minister’s Office who is privy to the agenda of Tuesday’s meeting.

He added that addressing technical issues will be crucial for the agreement’s full implementation.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Dahal on Monday, Sun discussed a wide range of issues between the two countries.

According to the private secretariat of Dahal, the prime minister urged more Chinese support after Nepal graduated from the category of least developed countries. Nepal is set to graduate from least developed countries to developed countries by the end of 2026.

Sun said that in 2025, Nepal and China will mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations. To promote Chinese tourists to Nepal and Nepali tourism, China is celebrating and organising “Visit Nepal 2025.”

Sun also assured continuous Chinese support for Nepal’s socio-economic development.

On Tuesday, the two sides will discuss ways to make Pokhara and Bhairahawa international airports operational by starting flights from different Chinese provinces and cities.

Despite repeated requests from Nepali leaders during meetings and visits, Chinese officials and diplomats have not taken the initiative to start regular flights from Chinese cities to these airports. Only a handful of Chinese chartered flights have landed in Pokhara and Bhairahawa airports since their opening a year and half ago.

The Nepali side’s proposal to upgrade the existing foreign secretary-level mechanism to the foreign minister level will also be on the agenda. During his China visit in March, Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha had proposed upgrading the foreign secretary-level mechanism in order to match Nepal’s arrangement with India.

However, the Chinese side has not responded to Nepal’s request.

The profile and protocol of the Chinese foreign minister are higher than that of Nepal, the official at the prime minister’s office said.

Chinese foreign ministers are also the State Councilor, which means they have significant decision-making power in such a big and powerful country.

“Due to these protocols and hierarchy-related issues the Chinese are a bit reluctant to accept our proposal. At present, we have a deputy prime minister who is in charge of the foreign ministry, which means they could be okay this time, but not always,” the official said.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the recently held boundary meeting, issues of trade and commerce, implementation of the China-funded projects in Nepal, cross-border connectivity, and some other issues will be discussed at the meeting on Tuesday.

Amrit Rai, foreign ministry spokesperson, said all issues between Nepal and China will feature at the meeting.