At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will pay a state visit to China from 14 to 17 January, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced during a press conference held in China on Friday (10).

The visit, the first one to China by President Dissanayake since taking office, is of great significance to the development of China-Sri Lanka relations, Guo Jiakun, also a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, told a news briefing on the same day.

During the visit, President Xi Jinping will hold talks with President Dissanayake. Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee Zhao Leji will meet with him respectively.

Noting that China and Sri Lanka are traditional friendly neighbors, Guo said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1957, China-Sri Lanka relations have stood the test of the changing international landscape and maintained sound and steady development, setting a good example of friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries with different sizes.

China stands ready to work with Sri Lanka to take President Dissanayake’s visit as an opportunity to continue the traditional friendship, deepen political mutual trust, expand high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and practical cooperation in various fields, strive for new progress in bilateral strategic cooperative partnership based on sincere mutual assistance and ever-lasting friendship, and deliver more benefits to the two peoples, Guo said.