September 17, 2012
China’s top
legislator Wu Bangguo met with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse today,
vowing to insert new energy into relations between the two countries.
“China-Sri Lanka relations are now at the best period of development in
history,” said Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National
People’s Congress (NPC), who is on a four-day official goodwill visit to the
South Asian nation.
Wu extended congratulations to Sri Lanka over its post-war achievements,
saying China respects Sri Lanka’s choice of development path in line with its
own national conditions, and will support,as always, its efforts to maintain
stability, economic growth and improve people’s lives. China will continue to
provide aid within its capacity for Sri Lanka’s development, Wu said.
On the economic front, Wu said China and Sri Lanka have in recent years
witnessed sustained growth in bilateral trade volume, and have made smooth
progress on such infrastructure projects as the second phase of the Hambantota
port, a container terminal in Sri Lanka port and a coal-fired power plant in
Puttalam.
As they continue to push ahead major cooperative projects, China and Sri
Lanka should sum up their experience and tap potentials for new areas of
cooperation, said Wu.
Wu suggested the two sides adjust trade structure and expand trade
scale, saying China will take measures to export more from Sri Lanka and step
up cooperation with Sri Lanka on investment and tourism.
The two countries should also enhance cooperation on areas such as
maritime research, climate change, disaster relief as well as animal husbandry,
agricultural products processing and biomass energy, said Wu.
Rajapakse, for his part, said Sri Lanka now has great demand for
infrastructure construction and personnel training as the country is striving
for rapid growth, and it welcomes more Chinese firms to invest and participate
in the construction of railway, port and power station.
During their meeting, Wu and Rajapakse also exchanged views on
international and regional issues.
China is always committed to developing friendly relations with its
neighboring countries, and will work with the Asia-Pacific nations including
Sri Lanka to strengthen regional or sub-regional cooperation so as to achieve
common development, said Wu.
Rajapakse expressed appreciation for the important role China has played
on regional and international affairs, saying Sri Lanka will enhance
communication and coordination with China within the multilateral mechanisms,
including the United Nations, the ASEAN regional forum and the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization.
Wu and Rajapakse also witnessed the signing of 16 cooperative agreements
between the governments and enterprises of the two countries. (Xinhua)
