Bhutan and China hold the 16th Expert Group Meeting on their boundary in Thimphu
15 October 2026
Bhutan and China held the 16th Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on their boundary issues in Thimphu from 13 to 15 October.
Letho T. Tangbi, Secretary of the International Boundaries of Bhutan, led Bhutan's side.
China's team was led by Hou Yanqi, Director-General of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs in China's foreign ministry.
The two sides looked at recent progress and talked about putting into effect their MoU on the Three-Step Roadmap for speeding up the boundary talks.
They agreed to build on the positive momentum and to meet again at a date convenient to both.
Alongside, the Joint Technical Team on Delimitation and Demarcation held its 4th meeting and reached positive understandings on the next phase.
Bhutan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade and China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a joint press release.
In plain words
EGM Expert Group Meeting — An expert-level mechanism in the Bhutan-China boundary negotiations; the 16th meeting was held in Thimphu.
Three-Step Roadmap MoU on the Three-Step Roadmap for Expediting the Bhutan-China Boundary Negotiations — The agreed framework guiding the two countries' boundary negotiations.
Delimitation and demarcation Fixing a boundary on the map, then marking it on the ground — A Joint Technical Team handles this for the Bhutan-China boundary; it held its 4th meeting.