Sunday, 06th July 2014
By Maneshka Borham
China’s President Xi Jinping will visit Sri Lanka soon, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed yesterday. Speaking to The Nation, Director General of the Public Communications Department to the Ministry of External Affairs A.M.J Sadiq said China has accepted the long-standing invitation by President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a State visit to Sri Lanka. “We have not been informed of the exact date of the visit” he said adding that however the visit will take place before the end of the year at the renewal of the invitation by President Rajapaksa during his visit to China in May last year.
Sadiq also noted that though President Rajapaksa and former President Chanadrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga had visited China many times, the last state visit by a Chinese President to Sri Lanka was way back in 1986, which was during the era of President J.R Jayewardene.
Last week Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang had had discussions with Minister Basil Rajapaksa over on-going talks regarding a free trade agreement. He had called on both sides “to begin negotiation on their proposed free trade agreement as soon as possible, encourage Chinese enterprises to expand investment in Sri Lanka and strengthen the strategic partnership of cooperation between the two countries,” the official news agency Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Wang had also said that the upcoming visit by President Xi would be “a diplomatic landmark” for both countries. Xi is also expected to visit India and Pakistan during his tour.
