"Nothing comes before the people. The people are the greatest," said Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli during an interview with China Media Group, the broadcasting platform that runs CGTN.
Oli made after he learned Chinese President Xi Jinping's favorite ancient Chinese quote, which states that anything that benefits the people, however tiny it is, should be done, and anything that harms the people, however tiny it is, should be eliminated.
The quote is very inspiring, Oli said.
The interview took place before President Xi's state visit to Nepal, right after his informal meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A slew of videos introducing President Xi's favorite anecdotes are set to be released in the country.
A truck goes past the Friendship Bridge that connects Nyalam County in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region with Nepal's Sindhupalchowk District, May 29, 2019. /Xinhua Photo
President Xi's two-day visit to the South Asia country marks the first visit by a Chinese president in 23 years. The visit will have a major and long-term impact on bilateral relations and the region, said Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi.
China-Nepal relations are at one of their best levels in history, Hou said, as the two countries have kept close cooperation and frequent official exchanges over the past years, including China's assistance to Nepal after two devastating earthquakes struck the country in April and May 2015.
President Xi's visit will further enhance mutual political trust, expand pragmatic cooperation, promote people-to-people and cultural exchange, and inject new impetus into China-Nepal relations, and China's relations with South Asia as a whole, she said.