BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Saturday conducted an official visit to Nepal, the first by a Chinese premier to the neighboring country over the past decade.

During the visit, Wen met with Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and other Nepalese government and political party leaders in seeking ways to boost bilateral cooperation in various fields.

The visit is certain to further promote the development of friendly ties between China and Nepal, two neighboring countries with the world's highest mountains the Himalayas embedding between them.

However, the snowy and icy mountains of the Himalayas can't block the development of time-honored friendship between the Chinese and Nepalese peoples even a little.

The two countries have enjoyed a long history of exchanges dating back to over a millennium ago. A Chinese monk Faxian of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) and another one Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) visited southern Nepal to acquire Buddhist scriptures, while an outstanding Nepalese artisan Araniko visited China during the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368)and built the delicate and charming White Stupa in central Beijing, now still an attractive scenic spot in the Chinese capital.

The two countries, which established diplomatic ties in 1955, have committed themselves to ramping up mutual political trust, trade, cultural exchanges, and tourism, among others.

In December, 1996, and in May, 2001, then Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji respectively visited Nepal, a country with a population of 27 million and a land of 147,181 square km. In December, 2009, then Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal paid a visit to China.

In 2010, the number of bilateral personnel exchanges reached as high as 74,000.

The China-Nepal relationship has been a model for that between a big country and a small one, which features equal treatment, friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation.

China has firmly bolstered Nepal in sticking to its own development path and social system selected by its own people.

Meanwhile, Nepal has staunchly upheld the one-China policy and opposed any attempt to separate Tibet and Taiwan from China.

The two countries, without doubt, will carry forward bilateral cooperation and push their friendly ties to a new level.