Chief of Army Staff General Ashok Raj Sigdel is embarking on a week-long visit to China on Sunday. Neither Nepal nor China has formally announced the visit. Sigdel is scheduled to return to Nepal on September 19.

The visit will be Sigdel’s first to China since he assumed office as Nepal’s army chief.

Sigdel is expected to attend the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, which will be held from September 15 to 17 at the Beijing International Convention Centre. He is also expected to meet senior Chinese military officials during the visit, according to a Nepali Army official.

“General Sigdel will participate in the event and meet senior Chinese military officials,” the official said.

The forum’s organisers said senior defence officials and military leaders, heads of international and regional organisations, and experts and scholars will attend the 13th edition. The forum is a key platform for international security and defence dialogue.

Nepal has regularly sent senior defence officials to the Xiangshan Forum. Ishwar Pokhrel, then deputy prime minister and defence minister, attended the eighth edition in 2018, while Prabhuram Sharma, then chief of army staff, attended the 10th edition in 2023.

The theme of this year’s forum is “Build Consensus on Stability, Advance Security Governance Together”.

The forum will hold four plenary sessions on international order and strategic stability; localised conflicts, predicaments and pathways to resolution; risks and challenges to security and stability in the Asia-Pacific; and the role and vision of developing countries.

It will also have eight parallel sessions covering topics including major-power relations and strategic stability, Asian approaches to addressing security challenges, sea-lane security and maritime security governance, risks and regulation of military applications of emerging technologies, and trends in outer-space security governance.

According to military sources, Sigdel is also expected to address the forum.

China has promoted the forum since 2006 as an alternative to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Sigdel was invited to the 12th edition of the forum last year but cancelled his participation following the Gen-Z movement.

After being appointed chief of army staff in September 2025, Sigdel was invited to join the 11th edition of the forum. However, he could not attend as he had just assumed office.

During his upcoming visit, Sigdel and Chinese military leaders and officials are expected to discuss future military cooperation, including preparations for the next round of the joint military exercise between Nepal and China.

Nepal and China conduct the joint military exercise under the banner of “Sagarmatha Friendship”. Its sixth edition is due to take place in China this year.

The “Sagarmatha Friendship” exercise is a bilateral military exercise between the Nepali Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army. It was first launched in April 2017.

The exercise aims to enhance interoperability, operational readiness, counter-terrorism capabilities and disaster-response skills while facilitating professional exchanges between the two armies.

Each successive edition has gradually expanded in scope, incorporating high-altitude operations, disaster response and professional officer exchanges, while maintaining a core emphasis on counter-terrorism.

In December 2025, Sigdel visited New Delhi on an official trip, during which he was conferred the honorary rank of General of the Indian Army.