The aftermath of the Belt and Road?

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya , who is facing the debt crisis, asked the visiting State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to carry out debt restructuring to ease the economic crisis. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Beijing said it would continue to provide assistance to Sri Lanka to the best of its ability.

Wang Yi pointed out earlier that China and Sri Lanka should discuss restarting negotiations on a free trade agreement to assist Sri Lanka's economic recovery and development. China supports and encourages capable Chinese companies to invest in Sri Lanka.

On Sunday (9th), State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, accompanied by Prime Minister and former President Mahinda of Sri Lanka, visited the Port City of Colombo under the Belt and Road Initiative.

During the meeting between Sri Lankan President Gotabaya and Wang Yi, he proposed to seek debt restructuring, saying that if the debt repayment period could be rescheduled, it would help ease the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. He also requested China to provide preferential terms for imported goods, and hoped that China could open up tourism. Bubble, allowing Chinese tourists to travel to Sri Lanka under the specified epidemic prevention requirements.

Tourism-oriented Sri Lanka has been hit hard by the paralysis of the tourism industry due to the impact of the new crown epidemic. The foreign exchange reserves fell to only about 1.6 billion US dollars in November last year. It is estimated that it may go bankrupt as soon as this year.

China is Sri Lanka's fourth-largest creditor, and its debt, including loans from Belt and Road projects over the past decade, is estimated at US$5 billion, or about HK$39 billion.

In 2017, Sri Lanka leased the southern port of Hambantota to a Chinese company for 99 years because of its inability to repay its debts.