Sino-Lanka ties further strengthened, MoUs signed

President returns after successful visit

From Ranil Wijayapala in China

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to arrive in Sri Lanka this evening completing his week-long state visit to China after laying a strong foundation to boost Sri Lanka's economic, trade, educational, cultural and tourism sectors and further strengthening the half century long diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

According to President Rajapaksa the assurance given by the Chinese leaders to safeguard the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the unity of Sri Lanka and their strong support for the Government stance against terrorism was the highest achievement Sri Lanka had made during this state visit to China with the two countries celebrating the golden jubilee of the diplomatic relationship.

President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jinthao assured that they will not allow any entity to extend their support to the terror acts of the LTTE using the soil of China", President Rajapaksa told this correspondent on his way from Shanghai to Guangzhou.

The Chinese Government also firmly stands in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

According to Investment Promotion Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama the stance of the Chinese Government towards Sri Lanka resulted due to Sri Lanka's strong commitment on the one China policy for the past fifty years amidst strong pressures from various quarters from the world community.

"A giant like China is making all these commitments towards a small country like Sri Lanka due to its unwavering stance on the one China policy and the courageous decisions taken by Sri Lanka when China was facing problematic situations", Dr. Amunugama said.

Explaining the overall economic impact due to President Rajapaksa's state visit to China Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera said that the President's visit to China could lay a strong foundation for the country to achieve its anticipated economic growth for this year and also to go beyond the expected economic growth.

"The assistance extended by the Chinese Government towards the development of infrastructure facilities, to promote investments in Sri Lanka, to have a market for local products and to boost tourism in Sri Lanka will immensely help the country to achieve eight percent economic growth this year", Dr. Jayasundera said.

The assurance given by the Chinese Government to complete the Norochcholai coal fired power plant by the end of year 2008 and extending financial assistance for the second and third phase of the Norochcholai coal fired power plant and for the Hambantota Port development project are the major highlights of these achievements. The other factor contributing towards the economic growth is the Chinese Government's assurance to provide a market for Sri Lankan products in China by providing export relief to Sri Lankan products when exported to China, Dr. Jayasundera said.

"This will also help to remove the imbalance in the bilateral trade between China and Sri Lanka in favour of Sri Lanka", Dr. Jayasundera said. The educational and cultural sectors also received remarkable support during the President's state visit with the assurance given by the Chinese Government to increase the number of opportunities for the Sri Lankan students to enter universities in China and to expedite the process of constructing Performing Arts Theatre in Colombo.

The private sector businessmen in Sri Lanka too received a boost during President Rajapaksa's state visit to China with several private sector companies signing MoUs with Chinese companies.

The agreements signed between the David Peiris Company and Chery Car Company of China and the agreement signed between Micro Car Company and China Bus Company were the most outstanding achievements by Sri Lanka in the industrial sector, Industrial Development Minister Kumara Welgama added.