M Varma Beijing: A senior member of the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) will pay an official visit to Sri Lanka, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. Yang Jiechi will travel to Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria and Serbia from Thursday to Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced here. Yang, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, was invited by the governments of the four countries, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing Hua’s statement.
China has invested over USD eight billion in Sri Lanka and building Colombo Port city reclaimed from the sea. China has also taken over the Hambantota port on 99-year lease as part of a debt swap. Yang is the first high-level Chinese official to visit Sri Lanka after the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Party headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa secured a landslide victory in the country’s parliamentary election in August this year and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa become Prime Minister.
Mahinda was formerly the president of Sri Lanka from 2005-2015 during which China has expanded its investments manifold.
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