November 26: It has been more than one year since the governments of Nepal and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for bilateral trade but there has been no progress in implementing the agreement till date.

The Nepal-China Joint Trade Task Force was formed after the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal in 2019 but the task force has organised meeting only once.

The task force was formed to resolve the problems related to bilateral trade and to increase the volume of trade between the two countries.

During a virtual meeting of the task force held about two months ago, both sides had discussed about the problems in import and export of goods at the customs points and to operate transit route. However, the customs points have still not become fully operational.

The meeting had also discussed about Chinese investment in Nepal, informed Secretary Prakash Dahal.

Government authorities informed that they are also in talks with the Chinese side regarding the implementation of the Trade and Transit Protocol signed with China. However, the task force has not been able to work effectively due to the impact of coronavirus.

Nepal’s export to China has come to a complete halt while import from China has also decreased significantly. Nepal is facing problems in bringing goods from Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi border points. Only three to four containers are entering Nepal from the border points on a daily basis. Authorities are holding discussions with Chinese embassy to resolve the problem.

Nepal, however, has been exporting limited goods to China through the air route.