China pledges 8 million Yuan assistance to Nepal for agricultural sector

Kathmandu: China has pledged to provide 8 million Yuan grant assistance to Nepal for the agricultural sector.

The decision was taken during a meeting between House of Representatives Speaker Devraj Ghimire and Yuan Jiajun, a politburo member of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), here on Monday.

Yuan arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit to Nepal, leading a 26-member delegation.

Visiting Chinese leader Yuan has pledged to provide 8 million Yuan (NRs 14.5 million/INR 9.16 crore) assistance to Nepal for the promotion of the agriculture sector in all the seven provinces across the country, sources close to Speaker Ghimire said on Tuesday.

Ghimire met the Chinese leader on Monday and the assistance was announced during the meeting, they said.

Yuan met Speaker Ghimire, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayankaji Shrestha, CPN-UML chairman KP Sharma Oli among others and called on President Ramchandra Paudel during the visit.

China has been investing heavily in various infrastructural projects in Nepal, leading to the Himalayan nation's growing reliance on Chinese financing. These actions are consistent with Beijing's debt-trap diplomacy, as seen in other countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan.