File photo taken on Nov. 15, 2019 shows dancers from Sri Lanka performing during the 2019 China International Travel Mart (CITM) held in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)
KUNMING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- An online dialogue conference of the think tanks from China and Sri Lanka was held in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province on Friday, said the organizers.
Nearly 200 experts, scholars and enterprise representatives from the two countries attended the event via video link while commemorating the 65th anniversary of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations and the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact.
Palitha T. B. Kohona, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the People's Republic of China, along with Hu Wei, deputy chief of Mission and Political Counselor at Embassy of China in Sri Lanka and other officials delivered speeches at the conference.
In 2021, the total trade between the province and Sri Lanka reached 50.9 million U.S. dollars, up 68.7 percent year on year, said Xia Jianfeng, deputy director-general of the provincial foreign affairs office.
Xia added Yunnan's exports to and imports from Sri Lanka surged 67.3 percent and 133.3 percent respectively last year, which showcased a huge potential.
At the conference, experts and scholars agree that the two countries have reached a broad consensus on many major international and regional issues and maintained sound cooperation.
They believe the two sides should further deepen exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, new energy, ports, digital economy and other fields to achieve mutual benefit and common development. ■
