September 3: Nepali traders based in China's Tibet region have been unemployed for the past two years. Nepali traders who had been exporting goods to and from Tibet in China have been unemployed for the past two years after China banned Nepali traders as well as goods produced in Nepal from entering the country due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Traders say that the Chinese government may have barred Nepali traders from entering the country to protect its citizens from corona infection as the infection rate is still rising in Nepal. Nepal mainly exports vegetable ghee, flour, turmeric, noodles, chewing gum, Nepali toothpaste, tiger grass broom, cosmetics and handicrafts to the Tibet region of China. However, exports of such items have stalled since the onset of coronavirus pandemic.

According to Mukunda Poudel, general secretary of the Nepal-China Kerung Trade Association, more than 5,000 workers and traders based in Tibet have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. He said that the traders were in trouble after the annual trade of billions of rupees was stopped. Poudel added that most of the Nepali traders were not able to collect millions of rupees from the goods they sold before the pandemic as the business was halted and they had to stay at home.

On the one hand, the border has not been able to function smoothly and on the other hand, Nepali importers and exporters as well as Nepali traders doing business from Tibet have been allowed to enter China. Importers and traders have been able to order goods online and sell them in the Nepali market. However, the Chinese government has banned not only the entry of Nepali traders, but also Nepali products into China, leaving the exporters unemployed.

Earlier, the Chinese government had suggested to keep labeling and stickers in Chinese language on food and other goods exported from Nepal to China, saying that there has been a language problem since September, 2019. Since then, exporters have been having problems exporting goods. Traders have been saying that the problem is getting worse as the government of Nepal has not taken any initiative in this regard.

Trader Narayan Das Shrestha said that the government administration has not taken any initiative to resolve this problem this despite repeated visits from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to various government agencies and ministries including the Chinese Embassy. According to him, if the government is still not interested in this issue, Nepal’s export to China will continue to suffer.