China has been paying close attention to difficulties in Sri Lanka: FM spokesperson

BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhua) -- As a friendly neighbor, China has been paying close attention to difficulties and challenges Sri Lanka faces and, whenever possible, has always provided support to Sri Lanka's socioeconomic development, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily news briefing. According to Wang, over a period of time, China has announced it would provide 500 million yuan (about 74 million U.S. dollars) of emergency humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka.

The second batch of emergency humanitarian food aid provided by China to Sri Lanka was handed over on Thursday, Wang said, adding that China has also provided multiple batches of various types of assistance to people across Sri Lanka to better their lives.

Regarding the China-Sri Lanka financial cooperation, Wang said, shortly after the Sri Lankan government announced it would suspend international debt payments, Chinese financial institutions reached out to Sri Lanka and expressed their readiness to find an effective way to handle the matured debts related to China and help Sri Lanka overcome difficulties.

China is ready to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in supporting Sri Lanka in overcoming difficulties, easing its debt burden and realizing sustainable development, Wang said.