Premier Li Keqiang met with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on March 26 in Beijing, voicing China’s hope to assist Sri Lankan efforts in promoting in its industrialization.

The president is paying a state visit to China and to attend the 2015 Boao Forum for Asia.

Li noted that Sirisena and President Xi Jinping embarked on a frank and in-depth meeting in the morning and that they reached important consensus.

China has been consistently placing great priority on its relationship with Sri Lanka, and is ready to champion and develop the bilateral traditional friendship, along with Sri Lanka, to expand and deepen pragmatic cooperation and promote the development of the China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership, the Premier said.

China is committed to shaping a community of common destiny in its neighborhood, which will mean neighbors benefit from China’s development and China will benefit from development in the neighborhood, Li said.

The China-Sri Lanka cooperation is grounded in mutual benefits and win-win practices, and “it is not only intended for the whole country of Sri Lanka and its people, but is also beneficial to the development and prosperity of the East Asia and South Asia — the two most populous regions in the world,” the Premier said.

China is willing to further encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in and flourish in Sri Lanka, participate in the construction of infrastructure and major industrial projects, assist Sri Lankan efforts in promoting its industrialization and boost local development and employment, Li said.

Sri Lanka is expected to “ensure the consistency and stability of its policies, provide a good investment environment for the Chinese enterprises and champion their lawful rights and interests in real and concrete terms,” Li added.

Sirisena said the friendship between Sri Lanka and China enjoys a profound origin and a long history, and Sri Lanka appreciates China’s long-term, valuable support.

Upholding friendship with China has been a consistent policy endorsed by his country’s administrations, and the new administration views China as a sincere friend and values China’s support and assistance to Sri Lanka, the president said.

The new administration is willing to further cement and develop the friendly and cooperative Sri Lanka-China relationship, expects China to strengthen investment in Sri Lanka and is willing to boost exchanges and cooperation on international affairs, he added.

[Photo by Liu Weibing/Xinhua]