Zhu thanked Nepalese business leaders for the efforts they made in developing China-Nepal relations, especially the positive contribution they made to economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Zhu said that not only the political relations between the two countries are good but also the economic and trade cooperation has shown a momentum of growth. He said the major cooperation documents signed by the two sides on Monday would certainly promote the development of China-Nepal relationship in the new century.

The Chinese premier told Nepalese businessmen that there is great potential for bilateral economic and trade cooperation and he hopes both sides will conduct mutual beneficial cooperation in various forms. Zhu assured them that the Chinese government would encourage such cooperation.

Pradeep Shrestha warmly welcomed Zhu's visit to Nepal on behalf of FNCCI, thanked China for the economic and technical assistance to Nepal over the years. He said he hopes to expand cooperation in trade and tourism with China and contribute to a closer Nepal-China friendship.

Zhu is here on a two-day official visit aimed at consolidating China-Nepal ties and deepen bilateral economic cooperation. The Himalayas kingdom is the second leg of the Chinese premier's five- nation South Asia and Southeast Asia tour, which will take him to the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

(People's Daily 05/16/2001)