Nepal Foreign Affairs (KATHMANDU, 12 October 2019) – President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping has arrived here on a two-day state visit to Nepal at the invitation of President Bidya Devi Bhandari.
He arrived here on a special aircraft and landed at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 4.45 pm. President Bhandari, Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli accorded warm welcome to the Chinese President at the VVIP lounge of Tribhuvan International Airport.
Panchakanyas also assisted them in welcoming the Chinese dignitary. Before this, President Bhandari reached President Xi’s aircraft to receive the Chinese dignitary. National Assembly Chairman, the members of the Council of Ministers including the two Deputy Prime Ministers, Heads of Constitutional Bodies and office-holders, the Ambassador of Nepal to China and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal and high officials at the Embassy of China based in Kathmandu were also present at the airport to welcome President Xi.
A contingent of the Nepali Army gave a 21-gun salute in honour of the Chinese dignitary on the occasion. Extensive preparations have been made to make President Xi’s stay in Nepal comfortable and enjoyable. All security bodies have been kept on high alert.
The main gate to the airport has been lavishly decorated in welcome of President Xi. Members of the general public along with cultural floats of various ethnic communities wearing the costumes representing all the seven provinces of the country and standing in the airport precincts welcomed the Chinese President, waving the Nepali and Chinese national flags.
Both sides of the road, especially from TIA to the place where the Chinese President is to be hosted and his accommodation has been arranged and from there to the President House, Sheetal Biwas, have been decorated in grand manner. The Chinese President was welcomed with the playing of various traditional Nepali musical instruments from the airport’s gate itself.
Banners and welcome gates have been put up at various locations along the route from the airport via which President Xi’s carcade will pass. Slogans like “Nepal-China Friendship as High as Sagarmatha (Mt Everest)”, “Nepal-China Friendship: Immense, Deep and Firm”, and “Hearty Welcome to the Country of the Buddha and Mt. Everest”, have been inscribed on the banners and the welcome gates.
The main gate at the airport, Tinkune Chok, Maitighar Mandala, Tripureshwar, Kalimati Chok, Tahachal, among other places have been beautifully decorated. A water fountain which gave a reflection of the seven-coloured rainbow has been constructed at TIA while flowers in full bloom put alongside President Xi’s carcade route have embellished the airport and the road.
Government employees, school children and large number of general public, carrying the national flags of both countries and standing along the route greeted President Xi Jinping right from the airport to his accommodation. President Bhandari and her Chinese counterpart will hold talks at the Office of the President at Sheetal Niwas today.
President Bhandari will also host a banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary this evening itself. The Chinese President is paying a state visit to Nepal after 23 years. It is believed that President Xi’s this visit will leave a lasting impact in enhancing the social, cultural and economic relations between Nepal and China.