Sri Lankan Prime Minister Gunawardena arrives on six-day visit to China

BEIJING: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena arrived here on Monday for a six-day official visit during which he will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang to further deepen bilateral ties and seek debt relief for the cash-strapped nation.

Gunawardena was received on his arrival by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister and former Ambassador to India Sun Weidong, Chinese official media reported.

According to Sri Lankan media reports, Gunawardena’s delegation includes Minister of State for Finance Shehan Semasinghe and the Prime Minister’s Secretary, Anura Dissanayake.

Gunawardena’s talks with Chinese leaders were expected to include the debt relief for cash-strapped Sri Lanka.

Gunawardena's visit also comes days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka for the next phase that would enable it access to USD 337 million from the nearly USD 3 billion bailout approved in 2023 for the cash-strapped country.

In 2022, Sri Lanka announced a default on over USD 51 billion in foreign loans, following which India pitched in with about USD 4 billion in assistance to enable the island nation to recover from a deep economic crisis.

According to Sri Lanka's official data, China tops the list of its creditors with 43 per cent followed by Japan with 23 per cent and India with 15 per cent.

Seventeen countries have extended loans to Sri Lanka and formed the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) last year for ease of debt restructuring negotiations. China opted to stay out of the platform but has been attending its meetings as an observer.

Sri Lanka has said it would negotiate the settlement of its Chinese loans on comparable terms with that of other countries who have provided the loans.

Gunawardena will be the chief guest at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference being held at Boao in South China’s Hainan Province.

This will be the first visit by a Sri Lankan leader to Beijing after Colombo put a moratorium on recurring visits by Chinese research ships to Hambantota port, reportedly due to India's security concerns.

Colombo's move had drawn angry reactions from China.

Earlier this month, however, Sri Lanka said it would allow foreign offshore research ships for replenishments at its ports despite a one-year ban on such vessels.

Some of China's infrastructure investments in Sri Lanka drew global concerns over Beijing's debt diplomacy especially after China took over Hambantota port on a 99-year debt swap.