UNP and Communist Party of China to strengthen links

• A delegation of young politicians and party cadres to visit China to study CPC workings

The United National Party (UNP) and Community Party of China (CPC) have initiated plans to deepen their political relationship during a visit to Beijing, the Board of Investment (BoI) said in a short statement yesterday.   

UNP Chairman and Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama, along with Law and Order and Southern Development Minister Sagala Ratnayaka had a productive meeting with Minister Song Tao and CPC International Department Vice Minister Cheng Fengxiang.

The Ministers agreed to strengthen the links between their parties through bilateral exchanges to build capacity and increase people-to-people contacts.

They also recalled that the China-Sri Lanka Rubber Rice Pact was signed during a UNP Government in 1952 in the face of strong opposition from major powers who were intent upon isolating the People’s Republic of China, following the communist revolution.

A delegation of young politicians and party cadres will be visiting China to study the working of the CPC. This will create an opportunity for human resource development to build the UNP party organisational and leadership skills.

Samarawickrama also briefed the Chinese Ministers about the measures being taken to accelerate Chinese projects in Sri Lanka, new investment opportunities being generated by the Government’s development plans, and initiatives for increased people-to-people contacts, particularly tourism.

Ratnayaka also spoke about the outreach work of the UNP and the forthcoming visit to China by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The meeting provided an opportunity to reinforce bilateral relations between China and Sri Lanka spanning millennia. The CPC has played the central role in China’s rapid rise into an economic superpower.