Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe concluded his four-day official visit to China on April 9. He shared the achievements of the visit and answered questions from Chinese and foreign journalists at a Beijing press conference on the last day of the trip.

This is Wickremesinghe's seventh visit to China and first one since taking office in August last year.

"Sri Lanka and China often communicate on counter-piracy work, and China keeps a military presence in the India Ocean to help combat piracy," he said.

Colombo Port City Project resumes

The Sri Lanka government announced in March it will resume work on the Colombo Port City Project. The project was launched in September 2014, with an investment of $14 billion from China. It was suspended in September 2015 by Sri Lanka's new government after concerns about some aspects of the project.

"Sri Lanka has never canceled the Colombo Port City Project. The suspension was just reevaluation work to foreign projects by the new government," Wickremesinghe said. The Port City Project shares a common mission with China's "One Belt and One Road" initiative, he said, and stressed that Sri Lanka's plan for economic development highlights the Port City Project.

Wickremesinghe hopes to promote cooperation with Chinese companies in other major projects as well.

"Sri Lanka and China share similarities in the way of thinking in various fields such as economic restructuring. We are ready to seek more economic cooperation with China," he said.

Related

• China, Sri Lanka pledge to further advance strategic cooperation
• Sri Lanka looks forward to further strengthening ties with China: official
• Feature: China's Belt and Road Initiative boosts poverty relief in Sri Lanka

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)