China & Sri Lanka agree to jointly advance cooperation

Colombo (News 1st); The Presidents of Sri Lanka and China have agreed to strengthen and enhance mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in all fields. In a phone conversation with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Chinese President Xi Jinping noted he will continue to support the sustainable development of Sri Lanka and will stand firm for Sri Lanka in the face of the unjust pressure it faces in the multilateral forums. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa thanked President Xi and the Chinese Government for their support at the recently concluded UN Human Rights Council sessions and also appreciated the presentation of 600,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Sri Lanka. “The Port City of Colombo and the Port of Hambantota are two projects that have great potential to contribute to the socio-economic development of Sri Lanka. We hope to see them completed soon. The port city has the potential to greatly expand foreign investment opportunities. It is also a solution to unemployment,” said the Chinese President. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa noted the Hambantota Port and other infrastructure development projects are progressing satisfactorily and requested the Chinese Government to complete the remaining work on the project expeditiously. President Rajapaksa said he intends to do what is necessary for the prosperity and development of Sri Lanka during the remaining four years of his tenure. “Poverty alleviation is our primary objective. For that, we can follow the example of China,” he said. The Chinese leader expressed his willingness to help alleviate poverty in Sri Lanka, saying that in the past few years, 9 million people in his country have been lifted out of poverty. Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka hopes to learn from China's experience in poverty reduction and rural revitalization and is willing to expand cooperation in infrastructure construction, tourism and so on, so as to benefit Sri Lanka's economic development and its people.