BEIJING, Oct 7 (APP):: Countries in the Himalayan region have always maintained frequent exchanges and regional countries aspire to benefit from China’s rapid economic development.
However, due to geographical constraints, there are natural obstacles to connectivity.
This platform has opened up a new channel for trans-Himalayan countries, instilling confidence and fostering greater expectations for future openness, said Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University.
The third China Xizang Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation was held in Nyingchi, Southwest China’s Xizang also known as Tibet.
Representatives from more than 40 countries, regions and international organizations attended the forum.
According to statistics released at the forum, the total value of Xizang’s foreign trade import and export in 2022 reached 4.6 billion yuan ($640 million), a year-on-year increase of 14.6 percent.
Trade partners spanned across 95 countries and regions, with imports and exports to countries along the Belt and Road reaching 2.4 billion yuan.
From January to August, Xizang’s total foreign trade volume increased by 72.5 percent.
“Moreover, cooperation among trans-Himalayan countries has primarily been at the bilateral level. Now with this multilateral platform, countries can leverage their respective strengths to achieve complementarity and form a collective force. Although this is just the first step, it holds great importance,” Qian told Global Times.
One of the major achievements of the forum was the release of the Nyingchi Initiative, in which China proposed to work together with trans-Himalayan countries to improve environmental governance, jointly address ecological challenges and strengthen regional biodiversity, natural resource and environmental protection.
China will also strengthen the construction of infrastructure including railways, highways, power grids, telecommunications and aviation in the Himalayan region, and build a comprehensive network for cross-Himalayan connectivity to further expand openness.
In addition, China will promote closer economic and trade exchanges, deepen agricultural cooperation, and jointly build a Himalayan economic cooperation belt.
This year’s event not only attracted greater numbers of participation and higher levels of officials, but also included new members such as Afghanistan, which signifies the growing recognition and strong interest of the international community in the mechanism, experts noted.
Cooperation for the next step will mainly focus on infrastructure and connectivity, such as the extension of the Qinghai-Xizang Railway to Nepal and the extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, they said.
Another new area of focus is the cooperation on green low-carbon development, water and soil resource conservation and climate change cooperation.
Caretaker Foreign Minister, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia Sainbuyan Amarsaikhan, Vice Chairperson of the National Assembly of Nepal Urmila Aryal, and Afghan Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi attended the forum.
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