KATHMANDU: A senior Chinese official arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday to assess the political situation, local party officials said, a first diplomatic step by the neighbouring power after Nepal's Prime Minister dissolved parliament a week ago.

China has poured millions of dollars into Nepal in recent years in the form of aid and infrastructure investment as it incorporates the country in President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative project, which is seen as a new Silk Road.

Guo Yezhou, vice minister in the international department of the Communist Party of China, is the most senior foreign official to visit Nepal since Prime Minister K.P.Sharma Oli decided to dissolve the country's parliament last Sunday and call for an early parliamentary election.