KATHMANDU, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's ruling party, the Communist Party of Nepal (NCP) expressed the hope that the upcoming visit of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to China will be significant to deepen bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Party Spokesman Narayan Kaji Shrestha told Xinhua that a standing committee meeting of the party held in the Capital Saturday discussed the five-day official visit of Prime Minister Oli to China beginning from June 19.

"We hope that the visit will be significant to deepen bilateral cooperation between Nepal and China," he said.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Oli, who is also the chairman of the party, told the party leaders that his upcoming visit to China will be historic to enhance cooperation between the two countries.

This was the first ever meeting of the party standing committee since the launching of the Nepal Communist Party, a new communist party in the country, with the merger of the two leftist parties CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre) one month ago.

Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, who is also one of the senior leaders of the party, briefed about the ongoing preparations for the visit of the prime minister to China.

"The visit will help to deepen cooperation with China while side by side promoting our national interests," he told the leaders.

Leading a high-powered delegation, Nepali Prime Minister Oli is embarking on a five-day visit to China on June 19 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang. This is going to be the first visit of the prime minister to China since he came to power in February this year.