Nepal and China have reaffirmed cooperation in the fields of literature, arts and culture under the Belt and Road Initiative to promote bilateral ties, a top official said here on Tuesday.
The development came after the Nepal Academy and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles last week renewed for another five years their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation, which was signed for the first time in 2011, reports Xinhua news agency.
"The two organisations aim to support each other to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in culture and art, and enhance the understanding and friendship between the two peoples within the Belt and Road framework," academy Chancellor Ganga Prasad Uprety said.
The MoU states that Nepali and Chinese literature experts will hold conferences in Beijing and Kathmandu to share ideas in the field of language and arts.
Similarly, important Chinese and Nepali literary books will be translated and distributed.
"This MoU will be helpful strengthening the cultural cooperation between Nepal and China," Uprety said.
Nepal and China signed a cooperation agreement on the Belt and Road Initiative last month and one of the key components of the agreement is to promote culture and people-to-people bonds.
The Nepal Academy is a state-owned institution established to promote languages, literature, culture, philosophy and social sciences in the Himalayan nation.
Proposed by China in 2013, the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative aims to build an infrastructure and trade network that spans the globe, linking Asia with Europe and Africa, along the ancient Silk Road trading routes.