National Assembly (NA) Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, who is presently on an official visit to China, held a meeting with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), Zhao Leji on Monday. During the meeting held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the NA Chair highlighted the cordial and deeper ties between Nepal and China since centuries. "Nepal and China are closely connected by culture and customs," he said, expressing his hope that the bilateral relations would further grow in the days to come.

Stating that Nepal treated China as a close and good neighbor and a major development partner, he said relations with China were always the top priority of Nepal. "Nepal is always in favor of a one-China policy."

Lately, the legislative relations between Nepal and China have been further extended, according to the NA Chair who expressed his happiness over China's decision to incorporate Nepal in its Outbound Tourists Group. He utilized the forum to communicate with the Chinese side that the operation of Pokhara International Airport funded by China as a loan assistance was capable of contributing significantly to Nepal's tourism market, expressing his hope to see the operation of direct flights from Pokhara to various towns in China in the future. He also urged China to ease the exports of vegetables, meat products, tea leaves and herbs from Nepal to China. On the occasion, NPC Standing Committee Chair Zhao said China was ready to operate a direct flight from Chengdu to Pokhara from June 21. The NA Chair currently leads a nine-member Nepali parliamentary delegation to China and he is scheduled to address the Fifth China-Tibet Tourism and Cultural Expo to be held in Lhasa of Tibet on June 16-17 as a chief guest. House of Representatives members Jeevan Pariyar, Dhawal Shumsher JB Rana and Pradeep Yadav and NA members Uday Bahadur Bohara, Dipa Gurung and Hariram Chaudhary are among the members in his delegation.