Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe held a bilateral discussion with Wang Yubo, Governor of Yunnan Province, on the sidelines of the 10th South Asian Expo, focused on strengthening Sri Lanka-China trade and investment ties, Newswire reported.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Sri Lanka’s presence at the expo has grown significantly this year, with around 100 companies showcasing Ceylon tea, gems, spices and apparel — the country’s largest single delegation at the annual Kunming-hosted event.
Both sides discussed studying Yunnan’s specialised trade-facilitation programmes with a view to adapting them to benefit Sri Lankan exporters and improve their competitiveness in the Chinese market. Governor Wang reaffirmed Yunnan’s commitment to supporting Sri Lanka’s trade expansion and capacity-building initiatives.
The meeting concluded with an agreement to deepen business-to-business ties and strengthen investment cooperation, the ministry said.
The engagement comes as Sri Lanka pursues higher-value exports under a sustained diversification push, and as Colombo navigates the broader India-China rivalry over Sri Lankan trade access. It also follows the June 11 ADB-funded $134 million rural roads loan for Kalutara IROAD and broader efforts to plug Sri Lanka’s $6 billion export gap that ADB has flagged as a drag on external stability.
Sources: Trade minister meets China’s Yunnan governor to boost trade and investment — Newswire, June 12.
