Beijing, May 26th—Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), met here today with Bidya Devi Bhandari, former President of Nepal. 

Liu spoke positively of Bhandari's long-term contributions to the development of China-Nepal relations. He said, China and Nepal are good neighbors and good friends connected by mountains and rivers. China is willing to work with Nepal to take the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, continue to firmly support each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns, accelerate practical cooperation such as the Belt and Road cooperation, and promote the building of a closer China-Nepal community with a shared future. Inter-party exchanges play an important role in the development of China-Nepal relations. The CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges with all political parties in Nepal, deepen exchanges and mutual learning of experience in state governance and administration, and promote practical cooperation in various fields through the "political party +" channel. 

Bhandari said, Nepal and China have a long-standing friendship. No mountains or rivers can stop the friendship between the two peoples. Nepal thanks the CPC, the Chinese government and people for the long-term selfless assistance to Nepal's development and the consistent support for Nepal's choice of an independent development path. In recent years, Nepal and China have maintained close high-level exchanges. Apart from my state visit to China in 2019, leaders of the Nepalese government have visited China many times. It is particularly worth noting that President Xi Jinping paid a historic visit to Nepal in 2019, which brought bilateral relations into a new stage. Nepal and China should jointly implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and bring greater benefits to the two peoples. Nepal is committed to exploring a development path that suits its national conditions and is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the CPC and learn the experience in party building and state governance from China. 

Sun Haiyan, Vice-minister of the IDCPC, was present.