China today signed an agreement with Nepal to increase its annual assistance to the country more than five-fold to USD 128.3 million, a move that could boost the Communist giant's influence here.
Under the new agreement, China will give 800 million yuan (USD 128.3 million) to Nepal, until now which used to get 150 million yuan annually as grant assistance from Beijing.
Nepal's Finance Secretary Suman Prasad Sharma and Chinese ambassador to Nepal Wu Chuntai signed an agreement in this respect at the Ministry of Finance today on behalf of their respective governments.
"The Chinese government was keen to support Nepal in the development of socio-economic areas. These include programmes related to technical assistance, training and food security," said Chuntai.
China decided to increase its aid to Nepal at a time when the two countries are marking the 60th year of the establishment of their diplomatic relations and ahead of the visit of Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav to China towards the end of March to attend the Boao Conference.
The increased assistance has been received under the Economic and Technical Cooperation agreement. Nepal government is planning to spend the increased Chinese aid in infrastructure-related projects and national priority projects in the next fiscal year.
