On January 8, 2023, His Excellency Mr. Chen Song, the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to Nepal, arrived in Kathmandu to assume his new post. The diplomats of the Chinese Embassy in Nepal and the deputy director-general of the Protocol Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal welcomed him at the airport.
Ambassador Chen delivered a written speech at the airport, saying that linked by mountains and rivers, China and Nepal enjoy ever-lasting friendship. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1955, China and Nepal have always been respecting, trusting and supporting each other. In the critical moments of responding to the 2015 Nepal earthquake and fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have lent mutual support to each other, setting an example of equal treatment, friendly cooperation, and mutual benefit between neighboring countries. In 2019, President Xi Jinping paid a historic state visit to Nepal. The two heads of state agreed to build the Strategic Partnership of Cooperation Featuring Ever-lasting Friendship for Development and Prosperity. In recent years, under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative, China-Nepal practical cooperation in various fields has been improved both in quality and efficiency, and the trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network has gradually taken shape.
Ambassador Chen said that in October 2022, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has been successfully held in Beijing. Not long ago, Nepal successfully held federal and provincial elections, and formed new government. Changes of the world, of our times and of history are unfolding today in ways like never before. In the face of new situations, new opportunities and new challenges, China will, as always, firmly support Nepal in safeguarding state sovereignty and national dignity, exploring a development path suited its national conditions, and pursuing independent domestic and foreign policies. China is willing to work with Nepal to stay true to our original aspirations, inherit friendship, join forces to seek common development, and build a closer China-Nepal community with a shared future in the new era.
Ambassador Chen said that he would follow the important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and Nepali leaders, stay devoted and dedicated to outline their freehand brushwork of bilateral relations into a meticulous painting. He stands ready to work closely with Nepali friends from all walks of life, gather wisdom and pool strength to bring more benefits to the two peoples, and jointly write a new chapter of the China-Nepal Strategic Partnership of Cooperation Featuring Ever-lasting Friendship for Development and Prosperity.