As bilateral trade between Sri Lanka and China crossed $4 Bn threshold for the first time, a confident Sri Lanka said that the proposed FTA between the two countries shall further solidify this trade growth.
โThere is a six fold trade growth within a decade -and this trend would grow further as both countries move towards the proposed FTAโ declared the Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on 22 November.
Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the inauguration of the second China Products Exhibition (CPE) in Colombo on 22 November at Colomboโs SLECC. The second CPE with a focus on B2B, showcases an extensive range of products from leading Chinese manufacturers from Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, Chengdu, Sichuan and other provinces with a display of Consumer Electronics, Home Appliances, LED & Lighting, Building Materials, Tools & Hardware, Machinery, Furniture & Homeware, Hospitality products etc. Joining the occasion โalong with 120 strong visiting Chinese exhibitor delegation led by Deputy Secretary-General of Office of Guangdong Provincial Government Li Yiwei-were Commercial Counsellor of Colombo Chinese Embassy Wang Yingqi and the President of National Chamber of Commerce Tilak Godamanna.
The Year-on-Year (YoY) total trade between both countries jumped by 12% in 2015 from 2014โs from 2014โs $3.58 Bn. Interestingly, YoY Lankan exports to China last year jumped by a huge 68% -to $293 Mn-which, when compared to 2005 exports to China, is no less than a tenโfold trade growth!
โThis exhibition is a strong platform for Sri Lankan and Chinese entrepreneurs to interact with each other and for the Sri Lankan industry to explore long-term business associations with Chinese companies for joint ventures, collaborations and import-export trading relations. This exhibition comes at an important time of historic relations between Sri Lanka and China which spans a long history going back to several centuries. The relations have strengthened in recent times especially in tradeโ โ said Minister Bathiudeen, and added: โA significant amount of our exports use imports coming from China, one reason for the importance of our bilateral trade with China. The total trade turnover between Sri Lanka and China which was at US $ 659 million in 2005, has surged to US $ 4 Bn in 2015 for the first time-a six fold growth within a decade; and this trend would grow further as both countries move towards the proposed FTA. Therefore we believe that exhibitions of this nature will greatly help to strengthen our ongoing bilateral relations further.โ
Of the $4 Bn SL-China trade last year, 93% were imports from China to Sri Lanka while 7% were exports to China from Sri Lanka.
Colomboโs second China Products Exhibition is scheduled to conclude on 22 November.
Leader of All Ceylon Makkal Congress