On May 15, Nepalese King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev met with and hosted a banquet for Premier Zhu in the Palace.

Zhu said he is pleased to have the opportunity to meet King Birendra again on the beautiful land of Nepal. He first conveyed President Jiang Zemin's cordial greetings to the King. He recalled his acquaintance with King Birendra during the king's successful state visit to China last March, saying that he still has fresh memories of the pleasant talks held with the king. He told the king that this is his first time to visit Nepal and what has touched him most is the fact that China-Nepal friendship has struck a deep root in the broad masses of the Nepalese people. Just as the king has said, there are no outstanding issues between China and Nepal and the only task the two countries are facing is to make bilateral relations grow stronger and faster.

The Chinese premier also told the king that he had very fruitful talks in the previous day with Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and reached consensus on every issue they discussed. He said China and Nepal also signed six cooperative documents, which he believed would certainly play a positive role in promoting economic and trade relations between the two countries.

Zhu spoke highly of the achievements Nepal has made under the leadership of King Birendra. Zhu said the king pays close attention to Nepal-China relations and has visited China 10 times, making contribution to the consolidation and development of Nepal-China relations. Zhu said, he is confident that under the framework of good-neighborly partnership for generations established by Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the king, China-Nepal friendly cooperation will grow forever.

King Birendra asked Zhu to convey his good wishes to President Jiang. expressed his welcome to Zhu's visit and his belief that the Chinese premier's visit has achieved constructive results. He said, over the years, China has given great understanding to Nepal's efforts in defending national sovereignty and safeguarding national dignity and provided Nepal selfless help. The king asked Zhu to convey the gratitude of the Nepalese people to China and the Chinese people and said he is confident that Nepal-China relations will further develop in the new century.