STORY: Sri Lanka seeks stronger ties with China: Sri Lankan official
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 6, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 13, 2025
LENGTH: 00:01:17
LOCATION: Colombo
CATEGORY: POLITICS/ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of cityscapes in Colombo
2. SOUNDBITE (English): RUWAN RANASINGHE, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism of Sri Lanka
3. various of infrastructure projects
4. various of the Hambantota Port

STORYLINE:

Ruwan Ranasinghe, Sri Lanka's deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, said the friendship between his country and China has a long history and that Sri Lanka continues to seek stronger ties with China across various areas.

SOUNDBITE (English): RUWAN RANASINGHE, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism of Sri Lanka
"China and Sri Lanka, we have had historical relationships. I'm sure, in the future, we can continue to have very strong relationships, not only in tourism, but also in the economic, cultural, social (aspects). There's so much we can do as two nations together. 
China came to Sri Lanka and invested in a lot of massive projects like the Hambantota Port, the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, and Port City (Colombo). So these are massive investments in the country. So we continue to look for such strong economic ties and diplomatic and political relationships, as well as social and cultural exchanges. I'm sure we are looking for some investment projects during our president's visit and also to strengthen the existing relationships so that we can work together to create a win-win situation for the two nations in the days to come."

Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will pay a state visit to China from Jan. 14 to 17.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Colombo.
(XHTV)