Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a brief stopover in Sri Lanka on Monday while returning from an official visit to Africa, holding a cordial meeting with Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath. During the discussion, Wang Yi expressed China’s solidarity with Sri Lanka following the recent cyclone, noting that China had extended assistance at the earliest opportunity and was confident the Sri Lankan people would recover and rebuild swiftly.
Wang Yi reaffirmed China’s willingness to deepen exchanges of governance experience, expand practical cooperation across multiple sectors, and promote people-to-people ties. He emphasized the importance of further strengthening the China–Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership based on mutual trust and long-standing friendship, while working together toward building a community with a shared future. He also underscored China’s commitment to safeguarding the rights of developing countries, upholding international law, and defending multilateralism in an increasingly complex global environment.
Minister Vijitha Herath thanked China for its timely support following the cyclone and described China as one of Sri Lanka’s most reliable strategic partners. He said Sri Lanka is keen to enhance high-level engagement and deepen cooperation in areas such as infrastructure development, maritime affairs, tourism, and cultural exchanges. The Minister reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s adherence to the one-China principle and expressed readiness to work closely with China in multilateral forums to protect the shared interests of developing nations and strengthen the long-standing bilateral partnership.
