Introduction

In recent years, accelerated modes of transport and flexible border regimes have led to the formation of new development zones across the Nepal-China borderlands. Particularly in Himalayan spaces of Nepal's Rasuwa and Sindhupalchok districts, massive dry ports are being constructed to consolidate and transfer the import of Chinese commodities from the People's Republic of China (PRC) into Nepal. While a torrent of Chinese goods accumulates in warehouses and cargo lorries in close proximity to the Nepal-China border, Nepali exports to China remain little more than a trickle. Resonating this stark contrast in import-export volumes, popular conversations across Nepal about trade with China articulate a distinct moment of new Sino-Nepali relations. This discourse was remarkably advanced in October 2019 with Xi Jinping's state visit to Nepal, where twenty Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) were signed between representatives of Kathmandu and Beijing. These agreements indicate a gravitational shift in bilateral state development projects for the Himalaya region and an unprecedented commitment that links infrastructure systems to bureaucratic institutions across Nepal’s northern districts.

Economic activity is central to development zones and represents the core dynamic from which a host of other relationships radiate outwards. While economic logics consistently motivate and produce the development of such zones – and particularly so in borderland spaces, as demonstrated throughout this volume – the resultant activities are always much more than economic. That is, as new development zones are assembled, new socio-spatial relationships also take shape across a range of scales.