Sri Lankan prime minister arrives in China for state visit

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena of Sri Lanka arrived in China on Monday. He is scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping and talk about reorganising Colombo’s enormous obligations to its largest foreign creditor.

Video from state broadcaster CCTV showed Chinese authorities greeting Gunawardena with a bouquet and a red carpet welcome at an airport outside of Beijing, followed by a motorcade that quickly took him into the capital.

“An in-depth exchange of views on continuing the China-Sri Lanka traditional friendship” is what Xi and Gunawardena will do, according to a Friday statement from China’s foreign ministry.

According to official releases from both nations, Gunawardena will meet with Xi and attend the Boao Forum, a well-known international gathering on the island province of Hainan, before leaving on Saturday.

Ties between Beijing and Colombo have come under scrutiny during Sri Lanka’s years-long economic crisis.

Beijing accounts for around 10 percent of the island nation’s total foreign debt.

Last year, Sri Lanka secured a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), conditional on a debt deal that satisfies the island nation’s foreign creditors.

The IMF said last week it had reached a staff-level agreement with Colombo to clear the way for the release of $337 million, the third instalment of the four-year bailout.

But it said the “critical” next steps were to finalise agreements with creditors.

China agreed “in principle” to a restructuring in December, but neither side have given details and the two are yet to seal a final deal.