Xi meets Sri Lankan PM

BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping on Tuesday met with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, who is in Beijing for the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women.

Noting that China and Sri Lanka boast a long traditional friendship, Xi said that China stands ready to work with Sri Lanka to carry forward this friendship, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly build a China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future, and deliver more benefits to the two peoples.

China is willing to jointly promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with Sri Lanka, and expand cooperation in fields such as port economy, modern agriculture, digital economy, green economy, and tourism, Xi said.

The two countries should strengthen cooperation in law enforcement and security, and resolutely crack down on cross-border gambling, fraud and other criminal activities, he said.

Xi also called on the two countries to deepen coordination and cooperation under multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, and firmly safeguard the common interests of the Global South.

Sri Lanka actively supports and participates in the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Amarasuriya said, adding that Sri Lanka is looking forward to deepening cooperation with China for fresh progress in its own development.

She said that the four global initiatives put forward by Xi are of great significance in the current turbulent international landscape, and Sri Lanka will implement the initiatives with China and jointly safeguard the common interests of the Global South.

Wang Yi attended the meeting.