Several Chinese investors and would-be tourists who were to visit and invest in Sri Lanka were not too happy when they were cold shouldered by the previous Government, said Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong during a meeting with a group of journalists at the Embassy on Thursday.
He said a case in point was the discussions for a Free Trade Agreement where they had seven rounds of talks but it never got off the ground.
Some vested parties deliberately put fear into the people regarding the FTA by saying that China was a big country and hence Sri Lanka would not have any advantage regarding an FTA with China.
“This is wrong. If you take for example a country such as Laos (where the Gross Domestic Product is: 15,843 M US$ vs Sri Lanka where the GDP is US$ 84,357) this country has benefited a great deal from trade relations with China.
Today, if one looks at the Rubber-Rice Pact between China and Sri Lanka signed way back in the 1950’s, there was no negative feedback with regard to the Pact where Sri Lanka was concerned. “We are sincere in helping Sri Lanka and all the development assistance too was given with this in mind while there were many donations as well such as the Kandy hospital in Polonnaruwa, supplying the sinopharm vaccine during the Covid-19 pandemic and many more,” he said.
The Envoy said many referred to the Lotus Tower as being a white elephant but today under a private company it is making profits. “It should be also stressed that the Sri Lanka Government did not spend a penny to build the Colombo Port City,” he said.
He also recalled that a Chinese company had invested to set up a power plant in the North, however, at mid- stage the then Government cancelled it sending out negative sentiments to Chinese investors.
The Envoy said during the same time, when a Chinese Scientific vessel wanted to carry out research in Sri Lankan waters, it was not allowed and this incident was given publicity in Chinese social media as well as mainstream media, thus Chinese travellers were not too happy with the negative feedback. The irony is that the Maldives granted permission for the ship to carry out research in its waters.
“This is one reason for Chinese arrivals to drop from the top three to the fifth place. However, he said that though the numbers may be small, Chinese tourists on average spent more than travellers from other countries during their stay here,” he added.
Zhenhong said they had observed the political change especially in the North following the two successive elections. “We hope to work closely with the new Government and President Anura Kumar Dissanayake is expected to visit China next year.”
As the largest developing country and the second largest economy, China has been actively promoting the implementation of the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and the Belt and Road initiative.
“By doing so, China is able to create new opportunities for the world and benefit the global community through its high-quality growth; China has been actively promoting the implementation of the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) by calling for all countries to promote the common values of humanity featuring peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom,” he added.
“China and Sri Lanka are both Global South countries. We have broad consensus on many major international and regional issues and have effectively safeguarded the common interest of the two countries through productive cooperation. China has always firmly supported Sri Lanka in upholding its Independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and stood up for Sri Lanka on issues such as human rights,” he further added.
“The Sri Lankan Government and people also have been firmly
supporting China on issues concerning China’s core interest and major concerns such as issues related to Xizang and Taiwan,” he said.
China-Sri Lanka multilateral cooperation has become a model of unity and self-reliance among Global South countries. This year, the new Sri Lankan Government has applied to join BRICS and the New Development Bank.
“Though facing difficulties and challenges, such moves show the new Government’s commitment to an independent and non-aligned Foreign Policy while withstanding external pressure. It also goes to show the Government’s willingness to work with all Global South countries to enhance their influence and appeal on the international stage”, the Envoy further said and added “China warmly welcomes Sri Lanka and other like-minded partners from the Global South to be part of the BRICS family for common development.”
