“In the letter, President Xi Jinping congratulated his Sri Lankan counterpart on the latter’s 67th birthday and appreciated the good working relations between them. President Xi stressed that he attaches great importance to the development of bilateral relations and would like to work together with him to further promote China-Sri Lanka Strategic Cooperative Partnership to a new height

On the same day, President Sirisena replied with a letter of thanks through the Chinese Embassy, and expressed deep gratitude to his Chinese counterpart for the warm greetings extended.President Sirisena stated that the bilateral relations have made tremendous progress in the recent past encompassing various sectors.

“It is my fervent belief that the close collaboration will continue to flourish and expand for the benefit of our peoples. I would be looking forward to work closely with you to further strengthen development cooperation between our two nations.”