China agreed on Monday to consider building a railway into Nepal and to start a feasibility study for a free trade agreement with the impoverished, landlocked country, which has been trying to lessen its dependence on its big neighbour to the south, India.
Meeting in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Oli told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang he had "come to China with a special mission" when it came to strengthening relations. He did not elaborate in front of reporters.
Hou Yanqi, deputy head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asia Division, said Oli raised the possibility of two rail lines, one connecting three of Nepal's most important cities and two other crossing the border from China into Nepal.
Hou said the government would encourage Chinese firms to look at the internal rail plan, and that China was already planning to extend the railway from the Tibetan city of Shigatse to Gyirong on the Nepal border.
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