Hours after arriving in the Chinese capital on Sunday, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal began his visit by meeting Nepalis living abroad, an audience often invoked in political speeches but rarely engaged directly.
Before the formal meetings and diplomatic engagements that will define his four-day visit to China, his first public appearance was an interaction program with members of Nepal’s diaspora at the Embassy of Nepal in Beijing, where he spoke to students, entrepreneurs, academics, and professionals, delivering a message that was less about foreign policy than about Nepal itself.
His speech focused on governance reforms, corruption investigations, economic development, and the challenge of creating opportunities for a generation of young Nepalis increasingly seeking their futures overseas. Throughout his remarks, Khanal repeatedly returned to a single theme: that Nepal's future will depend not only on decisions made in Kathmandu but also on the contributions of Nepalis living beyond its borders.
Khanal’s arrival in Beijing comes at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. Ahead of his visit, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the importance it places on relations with Nepal. Speaking at a press briefing, spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters that China attaches “great importance” to its ties with Nepal and is ready to use the visit as an opportunity to enhance political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and further strengthen the China–Nepal strategic partnership of cooperation.
The visit, which runs from June 14 to 17, is his first official trip to China since taking office as Nepal’s foreign minister, and places him at the center of one of Kathmandu’s most delicate diplomatic balancing acts.
Over the course of his stay, Khanal is scheduled to hold formal bilateral talks with Wang Yi, meet senior Chinese officials, and participate in an investment conference organized by the Nepali Embassy in Beijing aimed at attracting Chinese investment into Nepal.
In his remarks during the diaspora interaction, Khanal indicated that the broader focus of his engagements would center on economic cooperation and Nepal’s development priorities, including trade, tourism, infrastructure, technology, energy, and connectivity.
The China trip follows closely on the heels of Khanal’s three-day official visit to New Delhi from June 5 to 7, where he held talks with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Discussions with Indian counterpart had also covered areas such as trade, investment, energy cooperation, connectivity, and broader people-to-people ties, the same few agendas that, in many ways, mirrors the thematic balance Nepal continues to strike between its two powerful neighbors.
Yet in Beijing, Khanal’s public remarks quickly shifted away from this familiar diplomatic framing and toward a more domestic set of concerns. He said the government is committed to investigating corruption cases and strengthening accountability. He reiterated that a task force has been formed to examine corruption and money laundering cases dating back to 2006 and suggested that the framing of such investigations, was not simply legal or administrative, but also tied to the broader credibility of the state.
Alongside this, he emphasized efforts to modernize public service delivery through digitization and institutional reform. Services such as passports, citizenship documentation, and land administration, he said, must become more accessible and less burdensome for citizens, including those living abroad.
Khanal also placed strong emphasis on Nepal’s domestic economic challenges. He noted a steady outflow of Nepali citizens leaving the country each day for employment and education abroad, estimating the number at between 2,000 and 3,000 dailies. While remittances continue to play a central role in sustaining Nepal’s economy, he suggested that such large-scale migration also points to deeper structural weaknesses in the domestic job market.
At the core of the issue is a widening gap between the number of young people entering Nepal’s labor market each year and the limited capacity of the economy to generate sufficient employment opportunities. At present, he said, Nepal is able to create only a fraction of the jobs required to absorb its working-age population.
Bridging this gap, he said, would require more than incremental policy adjustments. It would demand a sustained expansion of economic activity capable of reshaping long-standing patterns of outward migration and creating viable opportunities within the country itself.
He also pointed to Nepal’s persistent trade imbalance with China, one of its largest trading partners, where imports continue to overwhelmingly outpace exports by a wide margin. Recent official trade data shows that in the first eight months of FY 2025/26, Nepal imported goods worth approximately Rs. 265.7 billion from China, while exports stood at just around Rs. 983 million, resulting in a trade deficit of roughly Rs. 264.7 billion. In proportional terms, exports account for less than 1 percent of import value in some reporting periods, underscoring the structural nature of the imbalance. In 2024 alone, China’s exports to Nepal were estimated at over $2.1 billion, reflecting the scale of dependency on Chinese manufactured goods and inputs.
Khanal suggested that addressing such a gap would require not only expanding Nepal’s export base but also identifying new pathways for diversification, where diaspora expertise could play a role in sectors such as technology, services, and tourism.
In his framing, the relationship between Nepal and its citizens abroad is no longer defined solely by remittances, but is increasingly strategic, shaped by the transfer of knowledge, skills, and networks. Collectively, they represented a segment of Nepal’s population positioned at the intersection of domestic aspiration and global opportunity. Rather than viewing them primarily as migrants or contributors defined by remittances, Khanal repeatedly emphasized their potential role as carriers of knowledge and experience. He also encouraged attendees to reflect on how the expertise they are gaining in China could be translated into concrete contributions to Nepal’s development, whether through investment, technology transfer, entrepreneurship, or institutional collaboration.
On Monday, Khanal is expected to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for formal bilateral talks. As the visit continues, the contrast between diplomatic formalities and the more personal, almost introspective tone of his diaspora remarks is likely to remain a defining feature of the trip. However, the new government envoy’s first impression in Beijing was shaped more by a country seeking to re-examine how it defines and engages its people, wherever they may be, than by geopolitics alone.
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