On May 14, Visiting Premier Zhu Rongji held talks with Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in the government building.

Koirala welcomed Zhu's visit to Nepal, saying that the exchange of visits by leaders of both countries elevated bilateral relations and Zhu's on-going visit will certainly open a page in the annals of Nepal-China relations in the new century.

Zhu thanked Koirala for his kind invitation and expressed the gladness to visit Nepal. He said that Nepal is one of the closest friendly neighbors of China. We have been overwhelmed by the friendly sentiments of the Nepalese people the moment we set foot on Nepalese soil. The friendly contacts between the peoples of China and Nepal date back to ancient times. The China-Nepal friendship was jointly fostered by leaders of the old generation of both countries. Zhu said Koirala attached importance to relations with China during his three tenures as the Prime Minister of Nepal and paid two visits to China. We highly appreciate it. Zhu thanked the Nepalese government for its valuable support to China on issues concerning China's sovereignty and national interest, including the issues of Tibet, Taiwan and human rights.

Zhu said that in recent years, the leaders of both countries frequently exchanged visits, which helped deepen the mutual understanding of the two countries. He said during Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to Nepal in 1996, the two countries decided to build good-neighborly partnership which would be handed down from generation to generation and point out the direction of the development of China-Nepal relations. The King of Nepal paid a successful state visit to China at the beginning of this year, during which the two sides drew a beautiful blueprint for the development of China-Nepal relations in the new century. It is China's set policy to develop long-term, stable and comprehensive friendly relations of cooperation with Nepal and pass down China-Nepal friendship from generation to generation. China will always be Nepal's trustworthy neighbor and friend.

The Chinese premier spoke highly of the domestic and foreign policy pursued by the Nepalese government, saying that China, as a friendly neighbor of Nepal, is pleased to see the various achievements of Nepal. On China-Nepal economic cooperation, Zhu said the cooperation has been developing smoothly under the common efforts of both sides since the establishment of diplomatic relations. China has provided some assistance to Nepal within its capability. China and Nepal will sign some cooperation agreements and exchanges of notes on that day, which is believed to have a positive impact on the development of China-Nepal good-neighborly and friendly relations of cooperation. We are willing to make greater efforts to broaden the fields of economic and trade cooperation with Nepal, in a bid to further the good-neighborly relations of friendly cooperation between the two countries.

Koirala said that Nepal and China have a history of good-neighborly and friendly exchanges for more than a thousand years. Relations have been further consolidated and developed since the establishment of relationship, which are always based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the equality of sovereignty, featuring friendship, understanding and cooperation. Nepal values its friendly relations of cooperation with China and vowed that his country will firmly stick to one China policy and will not allow any forces to conduct anti-China activities on Nepalese soil. Nepal admires China's economy, which has been growing on a high speed, and he believes China's development will certainly benefit Asian countries as a whole. The Nepalese side thanked China's generous assistance for many years and hoped that Nepal-China relations would achieve greater development in the new century.