Poudel’s Welcome and Farewell Dinners in Nanjing Highlight Longstanding Nepal–China Ties

Dragon Media Correspondent

Discussions on Nepal–China cooperation and longstanding links between the two countries took place at a welcome dinner and a farewell banquet held in Nanjing for Prem Sagar Poudel, founder and president of the Nepal–China Mutual Cooperation Society. Representatives from Chinese social, business and research sectors attended the welcome dinner at Dream City on Sunday evening and the banquet held in Poudel’s honour.

Poudel urged Chinese institutions and businesses to explore investment opportunities in Nepal and expand cooperation in tourism, agriculture, medicinal herbs, energy and trade-related infrastructure. He said imports and exports, along with energy businesses, could further strengthen commercial ties between the two countries.

He Chunyin, who attended the events, is vice-president of the Chinese Elderly Cultural Exchange Promotion Association, founder of the Yangtze River Delta Self-Media Alliance, chairman of the Jiangsu Self-Media Alliance, vice-president of the Jiangsu Provincial Enterprise Development Strategy Research Association and director of the Feifei Cultural Research Institute. During their meeting, He recalled training the first Nepali delegation to travel to China.

He also told Poudel that he had written a 2005 news report about the Nepal–China Cooperation Society. An archive published on the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on March 21, 2005, records that then Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Sun Heping travelled to Nepalgunj the previous day to attend the society’s founding ceremony. More than 500 people, including local officials, business representatives, security personnel and media representatives, attended the event. The record highlights an early chapter in people-to-people cooperation between Nepal and China.

Chen Ming, who works in real estate, construction and hotel management; Zhao Bin, who is involved in China–Russia trade; and Zhang Jun, whose work focuses on information technology and computing services, attended the welcome dinner. Chen Yingxiong, Sun Lizhou, Chen Jingsen and Shen Haifeng, who work in international relations, geopolitical studies and communications, were also present. The guests are affiliated with various business, cultural and research organisations.