Chinese defence minister and state councilor Wei Fenghe arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday morning for a day-long visit.
This was the highest-level visit after the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Wei came to Nepal with around 20-member delegation.
“My visit is aimed at enhancing mutual military assistance and strengthening the existing ties between the two countries,” the local media quoted Wei as saying.
Wei was welcomed by Nepali home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa on his arrival.
“Ties between China and Nepal are strong and I am here to take this relationship to a new height,” the Chinese defence minister said.
Wei said he was “confident about having a result-oriented visit”.
The military partnership between China and Nepal gained momentum over the past few years.
During the last visit of Nepal’s then defence minister Ishwar Pokharel to Beijing, China agreed to provide some military assistance to Nepal.
However, the agreement is yet to be implemented.
According to media reports, the Chinese defence minister is likely to propose consolidating the military partnership.
Media reports quoted Nepal’s ministry of foreign affairs as saying that Wei would pay courtesy calls on President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister and defence minister KP Sharma Oli during his brief stay in Kathmandu.
Some reports recently claimed that China annexed a part of Nepal’s Humla district and constructed some buildings there.
Although the governments in both Nepal and China refuted the media reports, Nepal’s main opposition party, Nepali Congress alleged border encroachment by China.
Wei would talk about this issue with the leadership of Nepal.
The Chinese defence minister is the top leader who is visiting Nepal after President Xi Jinping’s visit in October last year.
Wei will discuss various bilateral issues with the Nepali leadership in a follow-up to President Xi Jinping’s visit.
Concern over the United States’ growing presence in the South Asian region may also be a matter of the discussion between Wei and Nepal’s leadership.