Lankan PM heads team for study tour in China

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is on an official visit to China to observe the development of largest metropolises in that country, visited Chongqing city in southwest China yesterday.
The premier met with Mayor of Chongqing city Huang Qifan at the Wudu hotel and held discussions on the development of urban cities, ColomboPage online newspaper reported.
During the discussion that ensued, Mayor of Chongqing city pledged his full support for the plan to make Sri Lanka an economic hub in South Asia, and stated that best efforts would be lent to help create a conducive environment to encourage investors, the premier said in a Facebook post.
Chongqing is China’s fastest-growing metropolis and outpaced other urban areas in terms of economic growth since 2014 while Huang, who is the Mayor since 2011, is credited with the phenomenal development of the southwestern city. The Sri Lankan delegation headed by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe includes ministers, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Patali Champika Ranawaka and they also visited the Global Shopping Complex in Chongqing city, the General Joseph W Stilwell Museum, and the home and office premises of China’s very first prime minister, Zhou Enlai.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his delegation are scheduled to visit Guangzhou, the capital and the largest city of China’s Guangdong province.
According to a senior government official, the prime minister’s visit to China would be important to Sri Lanka on the business and economic front as it takes places in the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s grand plans for the Western Province Megapolis Programme.
Chairman of Western region megapolis planning project Ajita de Costa told the Sunday Observer that, during the visit, the delegation would closely observe the manner in which China had planned and developed the Guangzhou city.
He said it would obviously help Sri Lanka’s plans for the much talked about Western Region Megapolis.
Another important aspect would be how Sri Lanka wants to integrate the Colombo Port (Financial) City into the much larger megapolis plan.
Against this backdrop, the prime minister’s five-day visit to China has drawn a lot of attention from business and financial circles.