On March 3rd, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka H. E. Yi Xianliang called on the Mayor of Colombo His Worship A.J.M. Muzammil. The two sides had friendly talks on the matters of bilateral ties and cooperation between local authorities of the two countries.

Ambassador Yi expressed his gratitude to the Mayor,a senior UNP politician, for his contribution to the development of relations between the two countries. Yi hoped that the Mayor could continue to commit himself to consolidating and promoting this traditional friendship as well as the exchange and cooperation between the local authorities of the two countries. Yi stressed that China highly valued its relations with Sri Lanka, and is ready to make joint efforts with Sri Lanka to implement the important outcomes of the state visit by President Xi Jinping last year, so as to push the China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership to a new level.

Mayor Muzammil welcome the assumption of office by Ambassador Yi and said that Colombo enjoys cordial relationship with Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities of China. He recalled with pleasure his several visits to China and the admirable achievements of Chinese development. He welcomed Chinese companies to invest in Colombo, and is willing to do his utmost to enhance the bilateral relations and the cooperation between the local authorities of China and Sri Lanka.