Chinese President Xi to visit Nepal on Oct 12

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Nepal on Saturday during which the two countries will sign several bilateral agreements, the Foreign Ministry said here on Thursday.

Xi will arrive in Kathmandu for an overnight visit on October 12 from Chennai after his informal summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This would be the first official visit by a Chinese president in the Himalayan nation after 23 years.

"President Jinping will arrive here on Saturday on a two-day visit at the invitation of President Bidya Devi Bhandari," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

During the visit, Xi will hold talks with Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, it said, adding, "Following the talks, both leaders will witness signing of several bilateral agreements and MoUs".

The visiting Chinese president will also meet his Nepalese counterpart Bhandari and other senior Nepali leaders.

On Wednesday, China said President Xi's Nepal visit would result in "historic outcomes", including a new blueprint for the trans-Himalayan connectivity network.

"It is a historic visit. The visit will yield historic outcome with historic significance and implications," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui told a media briefing in Beijing.

The USD 2.75 billion trans-Himalayan project under the controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is considered to be one of the most ambitious infrastructure plans ever undertaken by the Chinese government abroad.

Xi's visit will consolidate the political foundation for China-Nepal bilateral ties and provide a new blueprint for the joint development of the BRI cooperation, Luo said.