by Kalpit Parajuli

Price hikes by Chinese companies cause Nepali traders to halt movement of goods on the road from Khasa to Tatopani. They refuse to pay more.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - Trade between China and Nepal has been halted for about a week following a protest by Nepali traders opposed to sharp hikes in transportation costs imposed by Chinese companies. Border traffic has been completely shutdown.

On Monday, Chinese transportation companies hiked the charge Nepali traders have to pay by 1,500 yuan (US$ 250) per truckload for moving their goods from warehouses in Khasa. This has brought cross-border trade to a standstill.

Nepali traders have set a struggle committee chaired by Nilkantha Chaulagain, president of the Nepal Trans-Himalaya Commerce Association. The latter had decided nothing would come into or leave the country. Goods worth billions of rupees have thus piled at the border.

"We can no longer handle the situation," said Chief Custom Officer Mimansha Adhikari. "Not only is the country losing revenue, but there is no more room for the goods, which are piled up everywhere, on roads and open ground."

Kodari Immigration Office chief Jagannath Sharma Paudel said the Chinese authorities had washed their hands of the dispute, saying that for them it was purely a private sector matter.

At the end of 2012, Nepal's Economy Minister announced that the country has increased annual exports fourfold to China, to US$ 11.15 million per year.

The road from Khasa to Tatopani is the only route for bilateral trade between China and Nepal and this is the first major stoppage in many years.

Krishna Gyawali, chief secretary at Nepal's Industry Planning Ministry, said he was "confident, however, that Beijing would be responsible and open to talks. This [the border shutdown] causes economic losses for both countries."

• nepal
• china
• border
• shutdown
• transportation
• costs