Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Cheng Xueyuan said the value of bilateral trade reached 4.4 billion US dollars last year.

In an article highlighting China's role in the global and regional development, the Chinese Ambassador said, "A large quantity of high-quality and inexpensive products made in China such as household appliances, electronic products, furniture and toys have been exported to Sri Lanka, making continuous contributions to improving the living standard of Sri Lankan people."

He also added, "268,952 Chinese tourists came to Sri Lanka in 2017, which is a continuation of the two countries’ thousand years of connections through Buddhism. This has made concrete contributions to the development of hotels, catering, tourism services of the local area, and various industries in food, clothing, accommodation, transportation, featured products of the neighboring regions. These data and facts tell us that if China becomes better, Sri Lanka and the rest of the world will also become better.

Located at the center of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka has acted as a regional trade center since ancient times. Sri Lanka has not only played its role as a “central node” in promoting global trade development, but also benefited a lot from the free trading system. No other country could better understand the importance of upholding the free trading system than Sri Lanka."