Nepal's Department of Industry (DOI) said on Tuesday that China, for the third consecutive year, pumped the highest amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country during the last fiscal year.

Nepal received a total of US$505m in FDI between 2017 and mid-July 2018, with Chinese investment accounting for 84 percent of the total, or US$427m.

India came second with a pledge of US$46m, followed by the US on US$9m.

Durga Prasad Bhusal, from Nepal's DOI, told Chinese news portal Xinhua in June that they have seen a heightened flow of Chinese investors looking to register in the country over the past couple of years.

Beijing has proposed the building of an economic corridor between China, Nepal and India that would cover ports, railways, roads, aviation, electricity and communication.

Nepal will receive Chinese internet services as of August, thus ending India’s monopoly in the country, Indian Express reported on Wednesday.

The highest Chinese FDI pledge came via energy-based industries, with mineral, manufacturing and forest-based industries second, third and fourth respectively.

"We feel it is just a part of growing Chinese investment across the world," said Bhusal.

Analysts believe that Nepal has emerged as a new geopolitical battleground in the region, as China trains its strategic focus on South Asia - once considered to be exclusively under India’s sphere of influence.

During Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali’s visit to Beijing in April, China proposed the building of an economic corridor between China, Nepal and India that would cover ports, railways, roads, aviation, electricity and communication.

When asked to comment on the relationship between the three countries, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that they are all "natural friends and partners".

Courtesy: GB Times and Xinhua