Presidents of Sri Lanka, China negotiate to fortify relations

By
Maheen Humayun
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12
President of Sri Lanka meeting with the President of China
(From L to R) The President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

Beijing, 20 October 2023 (TDI): The President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping on October 20, in Beijing.

The Sri Lankan President was on his visit to China to attend the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, held from October 17-18.

The Chinese President while notifying Sri Lanka’s early membership to the Belt and Road Initiative, affirmed that China stands ready to work with Sri Lanka to jointly promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

He added that China is ready to push for new progress in developing a China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership featuring sincere mutual assistance and lasting friendship.

Besides that, the Chinese President stressed that China is willing to import more quality and specialty products from Sri Lanka.

He also set forth the aim to encourage Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Sri Lanka, to help transform and upgrade Sri Lankan economy with achieving sustainable development.

While appraising Sri Lanka for becoming a commercial center in the Indian Ocean, President Xi Jinping stressed that China will continue to provide assistance to Sri Lanka without any political strings attached and help the country cope with difficulties concerning its society and people’s livelihood.

Furthermore, President Xi Jinping focused on strengthening collaboration on international and regional affairs, opposing politicization of the human rights issue and bloc confrontation, and safeguarding the common interests of the two countries and developing countries.

Also Read: SriLanka to boost economic ties with China

The President of Sri Lanka on his part stated that Sri Lanka has attached great importance to and actively participated in the Belt and Road cooperation from the very beginning and has faith in its potential and prospects.

While noting the openness of the Indian Ocean, he asserted that Sri Lanka is willing to enhance communication with China in regional affairs and promote solidarity and cooperation among developing countries.