LHASA, July 8 -- China-Nepal customs cooperation is expected to deepen following the conclusion of the weeklong exchange of the two countries' border customs, which ended Monday in Lhasa, the capital of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

A delegation of seven customs officers from Nepal, led by Ramesh Aryal, deputy director general of the customs department of Nepal's Ministry of Finance, started their visit on July 2. The event was the 33rd round of such mutual visits.

Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the joint statement issued by the two countries, the two sides will promote cooperation in optimizing the business environment at ports and strengthening the supervision over import and export food safety, among other fields.

Aryal said China is an important trade partner of Nepal, with their bilateral trade accounting for 17 percent of Nepal's total.

In 2023, China's foreign trade with Nepal reached 12.69 billion yuan (about 1.78 billion U.S. dollars), up 15.6 percent year on year. Among them, the value of trade between Xizang and Nepal stood at 2.77 billion yuan, representing over one-fifth of the total.