Over the past five years, the total value of China's import and export with Nepal has surpassed 55 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 11.7 percent, official date showed on Friday.
As an important partner of China in building the Belt and Road Initiative in South Asia, Nepal's trade relations with China is growingly closer over the past several years.
The two countries saw a new historical phase in their bilateral relations following the elevation of their relationship to a strategic partnership in 2019.
In the first 10 months of this year, the total value of China's trade with Nepal reached 11.218 billion yuan (about 1.54 billion U.S. dollars). Among them, the Xizang Autonomous Region's export to Nepal of the "new trio," namely electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products, amounted to 225 million yuan (about 31 million U.S. dollars), showing a significant year-on-year growth.
This year, China and Nepal have continued to strengthen port construction and improve customs clearance facilitation. The four China-Nepal land ports have been operating smoothly and in an orderly manner, promoting bilateral economic and trade cooperation as well as personnel exchanges.
In the first 10 months of this year, the cargo volume at the four China-Nepal land ports came to 180,000 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 51 percent.
"In the first 10 months of this year, trade value between Xizang and Nepal reached 3.14 billion yuan (about 432 million U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 46.4 percent, accounting for 28 percent of the total China-Nepal trade value during the same period. The high-quality Belt and Road cooperation has gradually highlighted Xizang's geographic advantage as a gateway to South Asia," said Qiong Da, head of First Comprehensive Business Division of the Lhasa Customs.
China's foreign trade with Nepal surpassed 55 bln yuan over past 5 years
The average annual concentration of PM2.5 in Chinese capital Beijing continued to decline in 2024, meeting the country's air quality level 2 standard for the fourth consecutive year, officials said at a press conference on Thursday.
Data shows that the average annual PM2.5 concentration in Beijing's atmospheric environment in 2024 was 30.5 micrograms per cubic meter. Throughout the year, there were 290 days with good-or-above air quality, accounting for nearly 80 percent, an increase of 19 days from the previous year.
"In 2024, PM2.5 decreased by 6.2 percent year on year. The number of 290 days with good-or-above air quality all through the year was the most in history since monitoring records began," said Liu Baoxian, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau.
In 2024, Beijing continued to deepen the "one microgram" initiative, and implemented precise management measures based on the air conditions in different seasons.
The "one microgram" initiative is a long-term initiative for controlling Beijing's air pollution. It uses a combination of targeted measures to achieve its purpose, including technology, enforcement and compliance and management measures. By this initiative, each and every microgram of emission reduction counts.
"We have introduced financial subsidies such as supporting the replacement of old vehicles with new ones, the renewal of scrapped old trucks and large and medium-sized buses that meet the National IV emission standards, and implemented policies such as priority passage for new energy logistics and distribution vehicles. In newly-produced vehicles, the proportion of new energy vehicles has exceeded 50 percent for six consecutive months, and the proportion of new energy machinery has increased by 8.5 percentage points," said Xie Jinkai, director of the atmospheric environment division of the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau.
Annual PM2.5 concentration in Beijing continues to lower in 2024
