China has announced that it will extend the Qinghai-Tibet railway to the border areas with Nepal within the next five years. The announcement was made earlier this month during Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav's visit to China.
The railway will stretch out for another 540 kilometers from Xigaze to Jilong County which sits on the border of China and Nepal. Nepal has long been expecting that a new Tibetan railway which would extend to the border areas to boost bilateral trade and tourism between the two countries.
Nepal is an important transit point between China and South Asia, and a major chunk of the two countries' expanding trade has been conducted through Tibet. With this newly announced Xigaze-to-Jilong section of the railway in five years, better road and rail connections could be expected between Nepal and China.