China attaches great importance to ties with Sri Lanka
Thursday, 5 February 2015 00:29
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Ready to promote strategic cooperative partnership
Congratulating the Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena to mark the 67th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Independence on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China attaches great importance to its ties with Sri Lanka and stands ready to work with Sri Lanka to promote the strategic cooperative partnership.
In his congratulatory message to his Sri Lankan counterpart, President Xi said China and Sri Lanka are traditional friendly neighbours, and relations between the two countries have remained unshakable and become even firmer as time goes by, as the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries in various areas has brought about important interests to the two peoples.
Recalling his successful state visit to Sri Lanka in September 2014, Xi said he was deeply touched by the Sri Lankan people’s profound sentiments and friendship toward Chinese people.
“China attaches great importance to its ties with Sri Lanka and stands ready to work with the South Asian country to promote powerful development of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries featuring sincere mutual assistance and friendship from generation to generation,” said the Chinese president. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also congratulating Sri Lanka on the occasion told Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in a message that since the two countries established diplomatic ties their ‘relationship has witnessed a healthy and stable development’ in a consistent manner, and this relationship ‘has become a model for friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between two neighbouring countries’. “China places a high priority on its relationship with Sri Lanka, and is ready to jointly deepen traditional friendship and expand pragmatic cooperation,” the Premier said. He also expressed hope that the China-Sri Lanka strategic partnership will continue to break new ground and to benefit the people of the two countries.
