Beijing: The stalemate over the USD 1.5 billion Chinese funded Colombo Port City project has ended following Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s talks with Chinese leaders, China’s state-run media reported today. China and Sri Lanka have ended a stalemate over port project in the island nation’s capital of Colombo, the biggest Chinese investment project in the country, state-run China Daily reported today.
“The development sees Beijing recovering ties amid Colombo’s policy shift after a leadership reshuffle,” it said, without giving terms on which the stalled project was cleared. “During meetings with Chinese leaders in Beijing on Thursday, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena promised to continue the infrastructure project, which was suspended by the country’s new administration,” the daily reported. There was no word from the Sri Lankan side.
Sirisena, who held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday, was quoted as telling Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao that what happened around the Port City project was rather temporary. “The problem does not lie with Chinese side and (it) hopes to continue with the project after things are sorted out,” he quoted Sirisena as telling Xi.
After his meeting with Xi, Sirisena also met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang yesterday. In their talks with Sirisena, both Xi and Li asked the new Sri Lankan government to protect the legitimate interests of Chinese companies, expressing willingness to deepen cooperation in trade and infrastructure.
“China’s cooperation with Sri Lanka is based on mutual benefit and a win-win situation, without any political preconditions,” Xi said, adding that China wishes to help Sri Lanka sustain its development. Sirisena said his country welcomes more investment from China, promising a healthy investment climate. Li told Srisena that Colombo should maintain continuous and stable policy, and provide good environment for Chinese investors. He said China would continue to encourage companies to invest in Sri Lanka and participate in infrastructure and industrial construction.
The Sirisena government had suspended the port project amid reports that it was trying to renegotiate the 233 hectare project to be built on the reclaimed land in front of Colombo’s Galle Face green. Besides concerns over its environmental impact, the new Sri Lankan government probed allegations of corruption by the previous Rajapaksa regime which cleared the project. Sirisena arrived in China on a four-day visit with high power delegation. He would be attending the Boao Forum for Asia at China’s Hainan province tomorrow.
