Wang Shuo
It is a great honor to cross the majestic Himalayas and visit the ancient and beautiful “City of Light”—Kathmandu, and to join you at the China–Nepal Media and Think Tank Symposium themed “New Start, Shared Vision: Drawing a Joint Blueprint for China-Nepal Development.” Today, we gather to focus on connectivity and civilizational exchange between China and Nepal, and to explore new pathways for media and think tank cooperation between our two countries.
China and Nepal are friendly neighbors connected by mountains and rivers and bound by a shared future. The people of our two countries have together written a magnificent chapter in the history of the ancient Silk Road civilization. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Nepal have consistently treated each other with sincerity, mutual respect, and mutual support, maintaining sound and steady development of bilateral relations. China and Nepal are also close partners pursuing mutual benefit and shared progress. In 2019, President Xi Jinping paid a historic state visit to Nepal, elevating bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership of Cooperation featuring everlasting friendship for development and prosperity. This marked a new stage, a new height, and a new journey in China–Nepal relations.
Forward-looking blueprints
In October 2025, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was successfully held in Beijing. This was a landmark meeting convened at a critical moment as China embarks on a new journey toward building a modern socialist country in all respects and advances toward the Second Centenary Goal. The meeting adopted the Proposals of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, which provides a scientific and forward-looking blueprint for development over the next five years. It demonstrates the firm resolve of the Communist Party of China to unite and lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in advancing national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.
In fact, this is not only a plan for China’s development over the next five years, but also a grand blueprint that will profoundly reshape the regional economic landscape and create new development opportunities for Global South countries, including Nepal. At present, China—advancing high-quality development—is sharing the dividends of development with the world through greater openness. Nepal, committed to modernization, is striving to achieve its vision of graduating from the least developed country category. Against this backdrop, China–Nepal cooperation is embracing unprecedented new opportunities.
The 15th Five-Year Plan Proposals clearly call for a shift toward a high-quality and sustainable development model driven by innovation and green technologies. They also make important arrangements for accelerating high-level technological self-reliance, expanding high-standard opening-up, and advancing the comprehensive green transition of economic and social development. These priorities offer new directions for Nepal in attracting investment and promoting infrastructure development aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.
China and Nepal should deepen strategic alignment and jointly promote connectivity by continuing to facilitate customs clearance at border ports, improving cross-border road connectivity, and advancing cross-border power grid construction. These efforts will help Nepal transform from a “landlocked country” into a “land-linked country” and better integrate into the broader regional development framework. On this basis, the two countries should continue to expand areas of cooperation, share development dividends, and strengthen collaboration in industrial technologies, standards, and talent development. They should actively explore new models of cooperation in industrial and supply chains. At the same time, China and Nepal should jointly tap into their complementary advantages in technology, cost, and systems in the new energy sector, providing strong momentum for Nepal’s emerging industries, energy transition, and industrial upgrading.
Cultural integration and mutual learning between civilizations constitute the underlying bond of China–Nepal relations. In recent years, exchanges and cooperation between China and Nepal in education, culture, and tourism have yielded fruitful results, with the peoples of both countries writing vivid stories of friendship and cooperation through concrete actions. As an international communication institution oriented toward Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia, CICG Center for Europe and Asia (China Pictorial Publications) has long been committed to promoting international exchanges and people-to-people cooperation between China and Nepal.
Refined mechanism
We have continuously built and refined mechanisms for China–Nepal cultural exchange, integrated networks of contacts in both countries, and organized a wide range of people-to-people exchange activities, including the “Charming Guangzhou Meets Nepal” city promotion event and the China–South Asia Forum on Poverty Reduction and Development Cooperation. At the same time, we have established cooperative relationships with media outlets such as The Rising Nepal and conducted exclusive interviews with prominent figures, including former Nepalese Ambassador to China Bishnu Shrestha and former Chief of the Nepalese Army Rajendra Chhetri. These efforts have continuously enriched the substance of China–Nepal friendship, strengthened emotional bonds between our peoples, and promoted mutual understanding at the grassroots level.
Dear friends, let us take this roundtable as a new starting point. Let us work side by side, pool our wisdom, and strengthen cooperation, translating the Global Civilization Initiative into concrete actions, and further broadening and enriching channels of communication and exchange between China and Nepal. Together, let us contribute our wisdom and strength to the development of China–Nepal friendship, and help the tree of friendship between our two countries take deeper root and grow ever more robust.
(The author is the vice president of CICG Centre for Europe and Asia (China Pictorial Publicaitons). It is based on her speech expressed at a seminar in Kathmandu on February 13, 2026.)
