Sri Lanka signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s Yunnan Province on Friday intended to cut the cost of getting Sri Lankan goods into the Chinese market.
The agreement operates under a framework the two sides call “Three Free and Three Facilitations.” According to a government statement reported by EconomyNext, it gives Sri Lankan entrepreneurs free warehousing, free permanent exhibition booths and online market access, together with customs clearance and transport facilities.
“This will provide an opportunity for Sri Lankan companies to significantly reduce export-related costs,” the government said.
Where it was signed
The deal was concluded at the Sri Lanka and Yunnan Province Special Products Promotion Summit and Business Matchmaking Event, organised jointly by Sri Lanka’s Department of Commerce — under the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development — and Yunnan’s Department of Commerce.
A delegation led by Li Chaowei, Director General of Yunnan’s Department of Commerce, travelled to Sri Lanka for the event with representatives of more than 30 Chinese business entities.
Vasantha Samarasinghe, Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development, addressed the summit virtually, stressing the need to expand the export capacity of Sri Lankan products in the Chinese market.
A second document
Sri Lanka also signed a Letter of Intent confirming that Sri Lankan companies will take part in the 11th China–South Asia Expo, scheduled for 2027. The government said this opens promotion channels for leading export sectors including Ceylon tea, food and beverages, spices, coconut products, seafood, gems and jewellery, and handicrafts.
What the statement does not say
The account is drawn from a government statement and carries no trade values, no targets, no duration for the arrangement and no detail on which Sri Lankan firms qualify for the free warehousing and booth facilities, or how they are allocated. An MoU of this type is a framework rather than a binding commercial commitment, and the statement reports no tariff change.
Yunnan is a recurring counterpart for Sri Lankan trade promotion, and the province hosts the China–South Asia Expo in Kunming. Sri Lanka took part in the 10th edition there in June 2026, where Minister Samarasinghe’s delegation held talks with the provincial governor and the same Department of Commerce on market access and logistics connectivity — placing Friday’s memorandum on a track already running, and making the 2027 Expo named in the Letter of Intent the next edition in sequence.
This report rests on a single verified newsroom’s account of a government statement. No other verified outlet had filed at the time of writing.