Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Sri Lanka

Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Sri Lanka

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Sri Lanka,this will be the first Chinese head of state to visit Sri Lanka in three decades,underlining Beijing’s renewed push to deepen its strategic and economic presence in the neighbourhood and in the Indian Ocean. 

Mr. Xi’s visit was discussed in Beijing this week as Sri Lankan Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, as the President’s Special Envoy, met with the Chinese leadership.

However, there was no indication of the likely dates for the visit.

The Chinese leader will become the first President to visit Sri Lanka since former leader Li Xiannian in 1986. His visit assumes significance in the context of strengthening ties between the two countries, with China investing heavily in the island nation.

A $500 million- built port built by the Chinese was inaugurated in Colombo last year giving Beijing a strong foothold in one of the busiest international shipping routes in the world. With heavy investment in infrastructure, including in a massive port it helped build in Hambantota along Sri Lanka’s southern coast, China is said to have surpassed Japan and India as the biggest contributor to investments in the island nation.