Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa is leading the team which includes senior officials of other line ministries.Mohan Shrestha, press advisor of Thapa, has confirmed the visit of high-level government team to China.
However, dates have not been finalized yet. Deputy Prime Minister is currently in the United Kingdom.
"The high-level government team is visiting China on the request of the Chinese government," Shrestha told Republica, adding, "The team will discuss with Chinese officials on issues related to trade agreements," he added.
Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said that the high-level visit will work to diversify Nepal's trade with northern neighbor. They also said that the team is expected to finalize the commercial deal with China for supply of petroleum products.
The government has not been able to import petroleum products from China because of the delay in signing commercial agreement. Though separate teams of Ministry of Commerce and Supply (MoCS) and Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) had visited China for the purpose time and again, the visits haven't yielded anything as different issues, including taxation, has not been settled yet. NOC has sought tax waiver facility for import of petroleum products. However, Petro China Company Limited (PCCL) has been maintaining that the issues should be settled at the government level.
Deepak Baral, officiating director of NOC, told media persons on December 6 that Chinese petrol and diesel would cost Rs 180 and Rs 155 per liter, respectively, if China refused to waive off local taxes.
Nepal signed framework agreement with China to purchase one-third of its demand for petroleum products from the northern neighbor after Indian blockade created severe shortage of petroleum products in the domestic market. Similarly, efforts are underway to diversify Nepal's trade with China and decrease dependency with India.
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