Help post-quake Nepal to help itself

Patients are carried out of a hospital in Kathmandu after a magnitude-7.3 earthquake hits Nepal on Tuesday. The quake caused devastation, sending terrified residents running into the streets, according to witnesses. [Photo by PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP]

At a recent press conference of the Foreign Ministry, an official said China will help Nepal in its post-earthquake reconstruction. Later reports said the Ministry of Commerce is drafting a detailed plan for the purpose. What should China do to make the assistance effective?

Of course, China needs to provide some emergency relief in the short term to help the survivors. But more importantly, China should help Nepal resume its economic activities for sustained development. As a Chinese saying goes, donating blood to a patient is good, helping the patient form its own blood cells is better.

Such experience has proved very effective for China. After a more disastrous earthquake hit Wenchuan in Sichuan province in 2008 claiming close to 70,000 lives, a TV team met a senior citizen who was rushing back to the quake-hit area after it was declared safe because he wanted to harvest his crop. It is this strong spirit and confidence that helped the Chinese people to overcome the shocks and sufferings of the Wenchuan quake. Nepalese people are also confident to rebuild their homes and China should offer them necessary help to do so.

China and other aid-providing countries first need to build enough temporary houses for the survivors, open the blocked main roads and rebuild ample telecommunication networks so that people can contact each other in mountainous areas and regain the sense of togetherness.

Nepal needs to build quake-resistant houses to gradually replace the old ones. In this aspect, China has a huge role to play. It can send its urban designers experienced in quake-resistant buildings to train Nepalese engineers and builders, as well as provide equipment and construction materials to Nepal.

No less important is the recovery of Nepal's economy, especially production of goods for exports, because it will generate funds for the Nepalese people to expand their economic activities. As the world's second-largest importer, China already offers preferential treatment, including zero-tariff policy, to many developing countries. Perhaps it should offer more preferential treatment to Nepal.

Also, Chinese enterprises doing business in Nepal should expand their business activities and increase their productions. And Nepal should do everything in its power to recover from the devastating quake as early as possible.

For decades, tourism has been one of the pillar industries of Nepal and the main source of its foreign exchange reserve. After things return to normal, Nepal should make more efforts to attract more Chinese tourists, who have become one of the largest groups of globetrotters and spenders in recent years.

As a country that has suffered many natural disasters, China can share its experience with Nepal. For example, Nepal needs more funds and better management to build quake-resistant houses. Apart from choosing the best sites for construction, care must also be taken to rehabilitate communities so as to minimize the losses in case another quake hits Nepal. China can be of immense help in both aspects.

Besides, China's recent major diplomatic and economic moves such as the "Belt and Road Initiatives" and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank can also be of help to Nepal. One of the main reasons why the Nepal quake claimed so many lives (more than 8,000) was poor infrastructure, which made the movement of rescue teams difficult. The Nepalese government needs to learn from this experience. China's surplus capacities in road and railway building, and power generation can be shifted to Nepal to help improve the lives of its people and better prepare them for another quake.

Moreover, Nepal has huge hydroelectricity potential. If China helps the Nepalese government build hydropower stations, the electricity generated can meet the domestic needs and the excess can be sold to neighboring countries like China and India to earn foreign revenue. This will also create many jobs and help raise local people's living standards.

In one word, after finishing the short-term task of donating blood to the patient, global aid providers, with the active help of China, should help Nepal form its own blood cells for a healthy future.

The author is a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce's International Trade and Economic Cooperation Institute.