China confident bilateral relations with Sri Lanka will have brighter future

The next five years will be significant for China, as the session has explicitly requested that “The reform tasks laid out in this resolution shall be completed by the time the People’s Republic of China celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2029”. Sri Lanka is also entering a pivotal five-year period with the Presidential election scheduled for this year. Both countries are at a new starting point, which heralds greater opportunities for cooperation

Following are remarks by Ambassador Qi Zhenhong at a meeting with media journalists in Port City Colombo on 12 September

It is a pleasure to see all of you here, especially since many of you are new faces. I know you hold significant influence on the internet and in the media and I hope you can leverage this influence to play a greater role in promoting our friendship and cooperation. A key reason for inviting you here today is to hear your valuable insights and suggestions on how we can deepen mutual understanding between our two peoples and strengthen our long-standing friendship.

As we all know, changes of the world, of our times, and of historical significance are unfolding like never before. Sri Lanka and China are of no exception. Some of you may have been to China, while others may not have. Despite global turmoil and economic uncertainty, China has continued to maintain a robust development momentum with strong strategic focus. By undergoing tremendous changes, China has become the world’s second-largest economy and an important engine of global development with its contribution to world economic growth at around 30% over the years. China’s GDP for the first half of 2024 is approximately $ 8.57 trillion, while its total goods trade import and export value for the first eight months of this year reached $ 3.97 trillion. Therefore, we have every reason to be optimistic about the strong resilience, vast potential, and positive development prospects of China’s economy. 

The success of China is nothing short of a miracle and its remarkable achievements across various sectors have garnered global recognition. For instance, China has built the world’s largest and full-fledged industrial chain of the new energy sector, and provided the world’s 70% of PV components and 60% of wind power equipment. BYD, China’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer, has surpassed Tesla as the top-selling EV producer. Chin’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe successfully collected lunar soil and rock samples from the far side of the Moon, making China the first country to obtain samples from this previously unexplored region. 

Additionally, China is planning an ambitious Mars sample-return mission before 2028. China has the world’s largest high-speed rail network, which has grown to nearly 46,000 kilometres, with its operating mileage soon to exceed 20,000 kilometres, accounting for over 60% of the world’s total high-speed rail mileage. Emerging fields such as AI, big data and cloud computing are also thriving in China.

Correct and crucial step

All these achievements can be attributed to the reform and opening up launched in 1978. Thanks to this correct and crucial step, China managed to catch up with the trend of the times quickly with great stride. Since then, China has undertaken many other crucial steps. In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization. In 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2020, China achieved the goal of eradicating absolute poverty. This July, a new milestone was reached as the Communist Party of China held the Third Plenary Session of its 20th Central Committee, which comprehensively deployed reforms in various fields and aspects with the economic system reform as the traction and put forward more than 300 important reforms, laying out a grand blueprint and systematic plans for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernisation. 

According to the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization adopted at the session, the overall objectives of further deepening reform comprehensively are to continue improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernise China’s system and capacity for governance. To realise the reform tasks, we will focus on achieving the following objectives: building a high-standard socialist market economy, advancing whole-process people’s democracy, developing a strong socialist culture in China, improving the people’s quality of life, building a Beautiful China, advancing the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level, and improving the Part’s capacity for leadership and long term governance.

The next five years will be significant for China, as the session has explicitly requested that “The reform tasks laid out in this resolution shall be completed by the time the People’s Republic of China celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2029”. Sri Lanka is also entering a pivotal five-year period with the Presidential election scheduled for this year. Both countries are at a new starting point, which heralds greater opportunities for cooperation.

China and Sri Lanka enjoy a very close economic relationship and have broad prospects for cooperation, which is evident to all. China is Sri Lanka’s second largest trade partner, the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI), and the third-largest source of tourists for Sri Lanka. Throughout history, our multi-dimensional cooperation has played a significant role in promoting Sri Lanka’s development and benefiting its people. Flagship projects such as Port City Colombo and Hambantota Port are progressing steadily. Landmarks and other key projects like the BMICH, the Nelum Pokuna, the Lotus Tower, the Superior Courts Complex, the National Nephrology Specialised Hospital, the Outpatient Building of National Hospital, as well as many expressways and power stations, stand as testaments of our rock-solid friendship and the enduring spirit of the Rubber-Rice Pact. 

Although our bilateral cooperation has yielded fruitful and encouraging results, some parties—whether due to ignorance or ulterior motives—are attempting to smear China by spreading rumours like debt traps, in an effort to undermine our collaboration. They even claimed that Sri Lanka has become a Chinese colony due to the lease of port facilities and land to China. These allegations are entirely unfounded and groundless. Facts speak louder than words. History has repeatedly shown us that, the closer the relationship between the two countries, the more beneficial it is for the development of Sri Lanka, and the stronger Sri Lanka’s ability to withstand external pressures will become

First country to reach out to

No matter what difficulties our Sri Lankan friends have faced, China has always been the first country to reach out to and support Sri Lanka to the best of our capacity, offering aid and assistance without attaching any political strings. During the pandemic, the Sinopharm vaccines donated by the Chinese government saved many lives in Sri Lanka. In 2023, the Export-Import Bank of China was the first official creditor to reach a tentative agreement with Sri Lanka on the debt treatment, setting a good example for other creditors to follow. This year, China has also been the first to sign an agreement on debt restructuring.

Although our bilateral cooperation has yielded fruitful and encouraging results, some parties—whether due to ignorance or ulterior motives—are attempting to smear China by spreading rumours like debt traps, in an effort to undermine our collaboration. They even claimed that Sri Lanka has become a Chinese colony due to the lease of port facilities and land to China. These allegations are entirely unfounded and groundless. Facts speak louder than words. History has repeatedly shown us that, the closer the relationship between the two countries, the more beneficial it is for the development of Sri Lanka, and the stronger Sri Lanka’s ability to withstand external pressures will become. I am confident that our friendship and cooperation will not be affected by these attempts, and that our bilateral relations are bound to have a brighter future.