Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe held talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqian on Thursday, as Sri Lanka looked to restructure $8 billion worth of debt to China amidst a worsening debt crisis on the island.
As the two met in Beijing and signed seven different agreements, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of State Enterprise Eran Wickramaratna told PTI that Sri Lanka was “looking to swap debt to equity”.
Mr Wickremesinghe was also looking to negotiate the terms of a $125 million compensation package demanded by the Chinese following delays in the Colombo Port City project.
The state owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) said delays in construction, which was put on hold once the current Sri Lankan government came into power last year, had cost more than $380,000 a day.
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Megalopolis and Western Development Patali Champika Ranawaka told The Wire that his government would look to strategies such as rescheduling payments, admitting, “We can’t pay, we are going to negotiate”.
Xiao Qian, an official in China’s foreign ministry, said the two leaders had agreed to "speed up" the project. "On the Chinese side, we hope to see the earliest possible resumption,” he said. “We believe we won't have to wait too long."
Premier Li also commented on the controversial project, stating that "China welcomes the resuming of the Colombo port construction and is willing to join hands with Sri Lanka to steadily expand the construction”.
He went on to add that “both parties should strive for finishing the negotiation of China-Sri Lanka free trade agreement by year-end”.
During his four day visit, Mr Wickremesinghe will also hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of The National People's Congress, Zhang Dejiang.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
