On May 30, 2023, Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong co-chaired the 12th round of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic consultation with Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka Aruni Wijewardane in Colombo.

Sun Weidong said that China and Sri Lanka are good brothers, good partners and good friends. In recent years, China and Sri Lanka have jointly advanced high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and joined hands in the fight against COVID-19, injecting new impetus into the growth of bilateral relations. China appreciates Sri Lanka’s firm adherence to the one-China principle and will continue to firmly support Sri Lanka in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, support the Sri Lankan government and people in overcoming difficulties through unity and strength, and support Sri Lanka in exploring a development path suited to its national conditions. China is ready to strengthen exchanges at all levels and cooperation in various fields with Sri Lanka, push forward the comprehensive development of the two flagship projects of Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port, expand cooperation in investment, finance, energy, logistics and tourism, and jointly achieve better development. China thanks the Sri Lankan side for sending warships and divers to the central Indian Ocean to assist in the search and rescue of the Chinese fishing vessel.

Wijewardane made positive comments on the latest progress of China-Sri Lanka practical cooperation and its role in promoting Sri Lanka’s economic and social development. She expressed heartfelt thanks to China for providing valuable support when Sri Lanka was in difficult times, and appreciated China’s leading role in international and multilateral affairs. She stressed that Sri Lanka will work with China to jointly advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and upgrade bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation, and accelerate the resumption of tourism and aviation cooperation and personnel exchanges, in a bid to add impetus to Sri Lanka’s economic recovery and improvement of people’s livelihood.

The two sides agreed to strengthen coordination and cooperation on international and multilateral occasions, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and defend international fairness and justice.