China and Sri Lanka to further strengthen ties

by Staff Writer 27-06-2023 | 4:22 PM

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said Sri Lanka highly value China’s continuous support to Sri Lanka.

He said this when Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Shenhong met him at the Temple Trees residence in Colombo on Monday (June 26) to discuss bilateral relations.

The Prime Minister said Sri Lanka looks forward direct investments from China as well as investments in agriculture, renewable energy, IT, education and water supply sectors to provide long term solutions to economic issues.

The areas covered during the discussion included issues relating to new investment projects, furthering trade with china, Colombo Port City, Hambantota Port, poverty alleviation programmes, education, agriculture, cultural exchanges, high-level exchanges and assistance to under privileged.

The Prime Minister made a special request to support Sri Lankan rice growing rural population to increase production by introducing high yielding rice varieties developed in Yunnan Province in China.

Ambassador Qi Shenhong said he was pleased to see the resilience of Sri Lanka to overcome difficulties and assured China’s continuous support to Sri Lanka’s efforts to meet the current efforts at debt restructuring and meet economic challenges.

He said he planned to visit schools in remote areas of Badulla and Buttala to distribute educational needs.

The Prime Minister thanked him for the assistance provided by China to alleviate the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

The Prime Minister made a special mention about the Chinese stand in support of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty at the international forums including the UNHRC.

The discussion initiated with a satisfactory reference to the historical bilateral relations between the two countries. During the meeting, the importance of further strengthening the longstanding cultural ties.

Chinese Ambassador said the Chinese Buddhist Associations will continue to help temples and set up internationally important Theravada Buddhist Center in Sri Lanka. The Prime Minster agreed to set up a Coordinating Committee to expeditiously implement these proposals.