BEIJING: China has said it would continue to support Sri Lanka, as the crisis-hit island nation’s prime minister on Saturday wrapped up a visit to Beijing to try to finalise a debt restructuring deal.Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena arrived in China on Monday for a visit that included meeting President Xi Jinping and an appearance at the Boao Forum, a high-profile international meeting.Sri Lanka’s years-long economic crisis was high on the agenda during Gunawardena’s trip, with China accounting for around 10 percent of the South Asian country’s total foreign debt.China is willing to “continue supporting its financial institutions to actively negotiate with Sri Lanka, maintain friendly communication with other creditors, play a positive role in the International Monetary Fund, assist Sri Lanka in financial relief,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said in the Chinese version of a joint bilateral statement released Friday.The two sides agreed to “make every effort to promote the Port City Colombo and Hambantota Development Project, turning them into flagship projects of the Sino-Sri Lankan joint construction of the ‘Belt and Road'”, the statement said, referring to Xi’s massive Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative.
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