Sri Lankan PM to visit China

BEIJING - At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Dinesh Gunawardena will pay an official visit to China from March 25 to 30, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian announced on Friday.

During the visit, President Xi Jinping will meet with Gunawardena. Premier Li will hold talks with Gunawardena, and Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, will meet with him, Lin said.

The leaders will have an in-depth exchange of views on continuing China-Sri Lanka traditional friendship, deepening political mutual trust, expanding practical cooperation, as well as international and regional issues of common interest, the spokesperson said.

China and Sri Lanka are neighboring countries that share traditional friendship. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1957, the two countries have always helped each other, setting a good example of equal treatment and friendly coexistence between countries, Lin said.

In recent years, China and Sri Lanka have witnessed frequent high-level exchanges, enhanced political mutual trust, increasingly close exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, culture and other fields, and sound communication and coordination on international and regional affairs, Lin noted.

Last October, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, where President Xi had an in-depth exchange of views with him, and they reached important consensus on developing China-Sri Lanka relations, Lin said.

Noting that China attaches great importance to the development of bilateral relations, Lin said China stands ready to work with Sri Lanka to jointly promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and push for new progress in developing China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership featuring sincere mutual assistance and lasting friendship.