Nepal renewed its commitment on Wednesday not to allow anti-Chinese activities on its soil as a top-level Chinese delegation announced a $50-million aid package for the impoverished nation.

Nepal is home to around 20,000 Tibetan exiles who have fled China, but in recent years the Kathmandu government has cracked down on the refugees if they protest against Chinese repression in their homeland.

The $50-million package in grants and soft loans will be spent on bolstering Nepal's security agencies and improving electricity supplies, the government said.

Beijing has made steady strategic in-roads in the Himalayan country, creating concern in India, which has traditionally been the influential player in Nepal.

Jhalanath Khanal, the outgoing prime minister of Nepal, "pledged that the government will not allow any anti-China activities on Nepal's soil", Milan Tuladhar, the premier's adviser, said.

Rights groups have frequently criticised the treatment of Tibetans by Nepal and last month Tibetans were prevented from celebrating the 76th birthday of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

The 50-member Chinese delegation was led by politburo standing committee member Zhou Yongkang.

"China has applied pressure on Nepal to crack down on anti-China activities (by Tibetan exiles) and to tighten security on its northern border," Nepalese political analyst Purna Basnet told AFP.

Thousands of Tibetan refugees fled to Nepal after the 1959 uprising which forced the Dalai Lama to take up exile in India.

The Chinese aid package was the second this year. It comes after Chinese army chief General Chen Bingde visited Nepal in March and announced $19 million in aid to Nepal's army.

Khanal announced his resignation on Sunday over a lack of progress in the peace process that ended 10 years of civil war against Maoist rebels in 2006.

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