On March 29th, Mr. Ram Baran Yadav, president of Nepal, visited Sichuan after he attended the annual conference of Boao Forum for Asia.

　　Mr. Yadav is the first president of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. On March 26th, he attended the annual conference of Boao Forum for Asia and then visited Sichuan.

　　It is learned that in recent years, the friendship between Sichuan and Nepal has been developing continually. For instance, the cooperation of trade and economic field has witnessed a steady growth. Mutual import and export trade volume reach 18 million US dollars in 2014. In education, there are 2 medical schools cooperating with Nepal in personnel training in long term and approximately 130 Nepal students are learning in Sichuan. Besides, Nepal and Sichuan have also undergone close exchanges in the protection of intangible cultural heritage. As for technological field, there are remarkable achievements in the mutual cooperation in breeding excellent varieties. When talking about the exchange and cooperation achievements, Mr. Yadav expressed satisfaction.

　　Mr. Yadav said that Nepal has always highlighted cooperation with provinces and autonomous regions of China, especially with Sichuan and Tibet due to the geographical closeness between them. Through this visit he learned the crucial regional advantages of Sichuan as well as the importance in fields such as economy, education and tourism.

　　Mr. Yadav also emphasized that both Nepal and Sichuan should strengthen cooperation in tourism. As the opening of Chengdu-Kathmandu flight route, Nepal has become an important tourism destination for an increasing number of Sichuan visitors in recent years. It is learned that since April 1st, 2015, Sichuan Airlines will also open a new round trip flight route linking Chengdu, Lhasa, and Kathmandu. Mr. Yadav said, “We should use this flight route as an advantageous condition to promote our mutual cooperation in tourism.”

　　Mr. Zhong Mian, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee, managing vice governor of Sichuan Provincial People’s Government, in Chengdu met Mr. Yadav. They exchanged opinions concerning cooperation in trade, education, technology, tourism and so on between Sichuan and Nepal. On behalf of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and Sichuan Provincial People’s Government, Mr. Zhong Mian extended heartfelt welcome to the visit of Mr. Yadav. He mentioned the implementation of “One Belt and One Road” strategy to promote opening to South Asia will also further enhance friendly exchanges between Sichuan and Nepal. At this crucial moment, the visit of Mr. Yadav to Sichuan would definitely further enhance our mutual comprehensive and all round friendly cooperation.
　　
　　Because of tight schedule, Mr. Yadav was a little regretful that he had to rush to Lhasa after he met leaders of Sichuan province. “I hope I have another opportunity to carry out an official visit to Sichuan in the future.” He said that next time he would stay longer to have a better understanding of resources and economic and social development of Sichuan and further discuss how to promote mutual cooperation.