The China Town shopping center in Kathmandu is holding a Dashain shopping festival, attracting tens of thousands of Nepalese customers to visit and consume.

"According to our estimate, there have been 20,000 to 35,000 customers who visited our China Town in the last four days," KirpaAcharya, member of the China Town Shopping Center Business Association, told Xinhua Monday.

"We have added 60 more stalls here during the festival, and they sold various goods valued at about 10 million rupees (137,000 US dollars) in these days," Acharya said at the end of the four-day shopping festival.

A wide range of China-made items were sold during the festival including TV sets and other household appliances, electronics, computer parts, porcelain, textile, shoes, cosmetics and dolls. Among them, readymade clothes are best sold, he noted.

"The widespread availability of Chinese products in every nook and corner of Nepal is testament to the popularity of China-made goods," he added.

The China Town shopping center, which opened business in March 2003, is located at a multi-storied complex, with 67 shops in each story.

The trade volume between Nepal and China reached 20 billion Nepali rupees (274 million dollars) during Nepal's fiscal year 2003/2004, and the bilateral trade is growing at a rapid rate, Nepali Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari said while inaugurating the shopping festival last Friday.

Source: Xinhua