China says Sri Lankan prime minister to visit next week

China says Sri Lankan prime minister to visit next week
by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Mar 22, 2024

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena will visit China, his country’s biggest bilateral lender, next week, Beijing’s foreign ministry said Friday.

“At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Prime Minister… of Sri Lanka Dinesh Gunawardena will pay an official visit to China from March 25 to 30,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said in a statement.

Beijing accounts for around 10 percent of the island’s total foreign debt.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion external debt in April 2022 after the country ran out of foreign exchange to finance even essential imports such as food, fuel and medicine.

It secured a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout last year, with the programme conditional on a debt deal that satisfies foreign creditors.

The IMF said this week that it had reached a staff-level agreement with Colombo to clear the way for the release of $337 million, the third instalment of the four-year bailout.

But it said the “critical” next steps were to finalise agreements with creditors.

Beijing said Friday Gunawardena would meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his visit for “an in-depth exchange of views on continuing China-Sri Lanka traditional friendship”.

“China attaches great importance to the development of China-Sri Lanka relations,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin said.

It would also seek to “jointly build the Belt and Road with high quality, expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields”, he added, a reference to a vast infrastructure project that is a central pillar of President Xi’s bid to expand China’s clout overseas.

China also announced on Friday that the foreign minister of Nepal, another South Asian nation with close ties to Beijing, would visit.

“Narayan Kaji Shrestha will pay an official visit to China from March 25 to April 1,” Lin said.

Related Links

Global Trade News

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2023 – Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled “by Staff Writers” include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report’s information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : IndoDaily – https://www.terradaily.com/reports/China_says_Sri_Lankan_prime_minister_to_visit_next_week_999.html