Sri Lanka’s PM Gunawardena to visit China

Beijing: Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Dinesh Gunawardena will pay an official visit to China from March 25 to 30 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

Sharing details of the visit during his regular briefing, Lin Jian informed that President Xi Jinping will meet with Gunawardena and Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji will have talks with him respectively.

The leaders of the two countries will have in-depth exchange of views on carrying forward traditional friendship, deepening political mutual trust, expanding practical cooperation and international and regional issues of common interest, he added.

Terming China and Sri Lanka as traditional friends and neighbors, he said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have always stood together and moved ahead shoulder-to-shoulder, setting a good example of equality and friendly relations between countries.

In recent years, the two countries have had frequent high-level interactions, advanced political mutual trust, strengthened exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, people-to-people exchange and other fields, and maintained sound communication and coordination on regional and international affairs.

Lin Jian said that China attaches great importance to its relations with Sri Lanka.

“We stand ready to work with Sri Lanka to implement the important common understandings reached by leaders of the two countries, expand exchange and cooperation in various fields, including high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and strive for new progress in the strategic cooperative partnership featuring sincere mutual assistance and ever-lasting friendship”, he added.