April 28: The People's Republic of China has decided not to charge visa fees for Nepali citizens visiting the country.    
The Embassy of China in Kathmandu has shared that no visa fee will be applied for Nepali nationals starting from May 1, 2024. It may be noted Nepal has been giving the same facility to Chinese citizens since 2016.    
The decision comes following an agreement reached during the visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayankaji Shrestha to China last March.    
Issuing a notice on Sunday, the Embassy of China in Kathmandu said that visa fees will not be applied for Nepali citizens so as to promote friendship between the two countries and facilitate the exchange of visits. Express charges and services however will remain as before.    
The Nepali tourism entrepreneurs had been demanding charge-free visas for Nepalis since a long time. With this new provision, Nepali nationals can easily go to China and the traffic in both directions will have a positive effect on the tourism sector, said Maniraj Lamichhane, Director of Nepal Tourism Board.    
According to statistics provided by the NTB, the arrival of Chinese tourists has been increasing in 2024. A total of 12,093 Chinese tourists arrived in Nepal in the month of March. The number was 9,180 in February and 1,436 in January.    
In the year 2023, altogether 60,878 Chinese tourists had visited Nepal. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the highest number of Chinese tourists visiting Nepal was in 2019 that stood at 169,543.  -- RSS