□ Chen Runze, reporter of this newspaper in Sri Lanka

Since entering 2023, the Sino-Sri Lankan joint construction project has been moving steadily. On April 4, under the witness of Miao Jianmin, Chairman of China Merchants Group, and Qi Zhenhong, Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka, the flagship project of the "Belt and Road" - Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka held a signing ceremony for key projects.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. In the past ten years, from Colombo Port City to Hambantota Port, from the Southern Sri Lanka Highway to the Lotus TV Tower... The "Belt and Road" jointly built by China and Sri Lanka has yielded fruitful results, leaving monuments of cooperation one after another, and becoming an indispensable boost for Sri Lanka's economic development and improvement of people's livelihood.

Centralized signing is held

Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to welcome and join the Belt and Road Initiative. In the 10 years since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, China's infrastructure construction and major livelihood cooperation projects in Sri Lanka have not only brought a bright color to the Sri Lankan economy, but also brought tangible benefits to the Sri Lankan people.

Since entering 2023, China and Sri Lanka have jointly promoted the high-quality construction of the "Belt and Road", giving full play to the effect of flagship projects such as Hambantota Port and Colombo Port City to help Sri Lanka's economic development.

On April 4, the flagship project of the "Belt and Road" - Hambantota Port held a signing ceremony for key projects. Nine enterprises signed cooperation agreements with Hambantota Port, which are involved in warehousing and logistics, duty-free shops, maritime services, petrochemical and other fields.

Maddie, Director of Seahorse Yachts Maldives, said: "We believe that investing in the Hangang Park of China's Belt and Road project is more secure, which is a platform that investment customers can trust. ”

Chinese enterprises have continuously contributed to Sri Lanka's economic development. Just two days before the signing ceremony of the key project of Hambantota Port, on April 4, China Merchants Port Holdings Co., Ltd., Sri Lanka Port Authority and a local enterprise officially signed the South Asia Commercial and Logistics Center Project Agreement in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, to jointly build a modern multi-functional logistics center in South Asia. Sri Lanka's Ports, Shipping and Aviation Ministers De Silva and Miao Jianmin attended the signing ceremony.

It is reported that the total investment of 3 million US dollars in this project will not only greatly improve the level of local logistics services, but also attract more business and throughput for Colombo Port, and consolidate Colombo Port's position as a hub port in South Asia. Sri Lanka's mainstream media Sunday Morning Post noted: "This US$92 million investment is the first major foreign investment Sri Lanka has received after falling into economic trouble due to debt default... The project will play a huge role in Sri Lanka's economic recovery. ”

Fuel economic recovery

A number of Sri Lankan politicians, including Sri Lankan Ambassador to China, Palita Kohona, have said that Sri Lanka has benefited greatly from China's Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, under the background of high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" between China and Sri Lanka and the full promotion of practical cooperation in various fields, Sri Lanka has launched a series of development projects, carried out large-scale upgrading of infrastructure, improved the living standards of Sri Lankan people, and promoted economic development in a direct or indirect way. Sri Lanka is willing to strengthen cooperation with China on the "Belt and Road" to achieve common prosperity.

On May 5, Colombo Port City, another flagship project of the "Belt and Road" jointly built by China and Sri Lanka and an important hub of the 7st Century Maritime Silk Road, held the unveiling ceremony of the cultural cornerstone. Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Abeiwardna delivered a speech at the unveiling ceremony, elaborating on the importance of foreign direct investment, including China, to Sri Lanka's economic development, and hoped that Colombo Port City would become a window for Sri Lanka to attract foreign investment and a new driving force for economic transformation.

Colombo Port City is a key cooperation project of the "Belt and Road", a high-end industrial new city built by reclaiming land from the sea, and the project started in September 2014 in the presence of Chinese and Sri Lankan leaders. At the same time, it is also the first "special economic zone" developed and operated overseas by Chinese enterprises, invested and operated by China Harbor, a subsidiary of CCCC, and selected as one of the "Five New Cities Affecting the Future" by Forbes magazine.

According to management consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Colombo Port City project will attract more than US$97.50 billion in foreign direct investment to Sri Lanka in three phases: primary development, secondary development and urban operation. The project will add more than US$40 billion to the Sri Lankan government, and will continue to create more than <>,<> high-quality jobs in the region, ensuring the employment and livelihood of Sri Lankans.

Palita Kohona recently said that as an important project of the "Belt and Road" construction by Sri Lanka, Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port will promote Sri Lanka's economic development, improve people's livelihood, and promote the modernization process of Sri Lanka. He also looked forward to more achievements in the Belt and Road Initiative between the two countries to help Sri Lanka's economic recovery.

In recent years, as the "Belt and Road" projects continue to "blossom", Sri Lanka, a beautiful island country far away in the Indian Ocean, from cities to villages, from business to medical circles, has benefited from the "Belt and Road" projects, and truly felt the positive changes brought by the "Belt and Road".

Significantly improve people's livelihood

Palita Kohona once lamented: "Many of the great changes that have taken place in Sri Lanka have been due to the Belt and Road Initiative. On March 2014, 3, the Southern Sri Lanka Expressway, a Belt and Road project, was officially opened to traffic. The project is the first toll highway in Sri Lanka's development plan, connecting the capital Colombo to the southern Hambantota Port, and is the most well-known and important trunk road in Sri Lanka. Palita Kohona pointed out that Sri Lanka sees tourism as an important support for economic recovery, and Sri Lanka's main tourist attractions are on the southern coast. With the Southern Highway, it only takes about 15 hour to get to the main attractions from the airport, compared to half a day on the road before. So, the Belt and Road Initiative has benefited Sri Lanka.

Not only that, in February 2020, the extension of the Southern Sri Lanka Expressway was officially opened to traffic. Gunnaratna, a villager living in the village of Hasperuwa in the area, said, "Because of this highway, I was able to sell fruits and vegetables to Colombo on the same day, and this road made a big difference in my life." ”

The Belt and Road Initiative has improved Sri Lanka's traffic situation more than that. Compared with the southern part of the country, where tourism is concentrated, the northern regions of Jaffna, Vavuniya and other parts of Sri Lanka are relatively backward, and most of the rural roads are muddy, which seriously restricts the local economic development. In recent years, under the framework of the "Belt and Road" initiative, road renovation projects undertaken by "China State Construction" have brought "asphalt roads at the doorstep" to local residents, promoting the development of the local economy. To this end, a reporter from Rule of Law Daily went to the northern region of Sri Lanka to visit this "village-to-village" project that benefits the local people. During the interview, the reporter of "Rule of Law Daily" felt the powerful force of mutual assistance and cooperation between China and Sri Lanka, and praised the unprecedented development opportunities brought to Sri Lanka by jointly building the "Belt and Road".

In addition to effectively improving the local transportation situation, the "Belt and Road" project has also greatly improved Sri Lanka's health situation. On April 4, local time, the outpatient building project of the National Hospital undertaken by the 25th Bureau of China Railway was officially handed over. The project is located in the center of Colombo, with a total planned land area of 1,49 square meters and a construction area of about 5,2017 square meters. The project started construction in August 8 and passed the completion acceptance with "excellent" comprehensive evaluation in June last year. It is understood that after the official use, the maximum number of patients admitted to the country's largest public hospital per day can be increased by three times to 6,3, which will greatly alleviate the shortage of local medical resources, promote the development of medical research and education in Sri Lanka, and make significant contributions to the country's medical and health undertakings.

Sri Lankan Minister of Health Rambukvila said in his speech at the handover ceremony that the outpatient building of the National Hospital of China's aid to Sri Lanka is the largest set of aid projects completed so far in Sri Lanka-China development cooperation. Since the signing and implementation of the Mijiao Agreement, China has always sincerely helped Sri Lanka without asking for anything in return. The outpatient building of the National Hospital built with Chinese assistance this time is a project that Sri Lanka really needs in the health field, and I believe that Sri Lankan medical workers will make full use of this facility to serve the local people. On behalf of the Sri Lankan government and people, Rambukvila thanked China for its long-term assistance to Sri Lanka and looked forward to the outpatient building of the National Hospital becoming another important witness of Sri Lanka-China friendship.

China and Sri Lanka are good neighbors who help each other, good friends of equality and mutual trust, and good partners for mutual benefit and win-win results. 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. It is believed that China and Sri Lanka will continue to deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields under the framework of the "Belt and Road" to achieve mutual benefit and sustainable development of the two countries. (Source: Rule of Law Daily)