President Maithripala Sirisena said that Sri Lanka will actively support Chinese projects and investments in Sri Lanka, China Times reported.
The President also reiterated his support for the “One Belt, One Road” initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
President Sirisena expressed these views at a meeting with China’s Ambassador to Sri Lankan Cheng Xueyuan on Friday.
At the discussions President Sirisena expressed support for the a port in the southern town of Hambantota which is managed by a Chinese company as well as a China funded industrial park and other Chinese funded projects.
During the meeting both sides exchanged views on political, economic and trade relations between both countries.
The President said that Sri Lanka and China have a long history and he thanked China for the long-term support for Sri Lanka’s economic and social development.
Ambassador Cheng Xueyuan said that Sri Lanka and China are time-tested friends and good partners who have always supported each other on issues that involve core interests and major concerns.
He note that President Xi Jinping, who is also the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, had proposed to promote the building of new type of international relations based on the building of a community of human destiny and mutual respect, fairness and justice, and cooperation.
The Communist Party has also explored building a new type of political party relationship based on the principle of seeking common grounds while reserving differences, mutual respect and mutual learning.
Ambassador Cheng pointed out that China attaches great importance to the relations between China and Sri Lanka, and that China would like to take this spirit and work with the Sri Lankan side to actively implement the consensus of the leaders of the two countries, strengthen cooperation among political parties and further deepen economic and trade cooperation between the two countries under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.
He said that China will continue to actively support Sri Lanka’s economic and social development and ensure the benefits reach the Sri Lankan public.
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