China stands ready to support Sri Lanka’s development and strengthen their longstanding partnership, Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong said in a release, addressing global trade tensions.
Emphasizing the importance of multilateralism and economic cooperation, Qi re-affirmed Beijing’s commitment to working closely with Colombo to resist protectionism and economic coercion.
He described China – Sri Lanka relations as a model of South-South cooperation and said the two nations are well-positioned to build a shared future based on mutual benefit and stability. Qi also criticised the United States tariff policies, warning of their impact on developing nations and the global economy.
Excerpts from the statement:“Recently, the US government, disregarding unanimous opposition from the international community, announced its decision to impose so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on all trading partners including China and Sri Lanka. This move was followed by repeated policy reversals, creating significant chaos and uncertainty on a global scale. Moreover, this uncertainty continues to accumulate, potentially causing broader turmoil and even triggering a global economic recession.
“By recklessly imposing tariffs on other countries, the US defies the fundamental laws of economics and market principles, disregards the balanced outcomes achieved through multilateral trade negotiations, ignores the fact that the US has long benefited substantially from international trade, and weaponizes tariffs to exert maximum pressure for selfish interests.
“As a matter of fact, the US and other Western developed countries have been the architects and long-time leaders of the global free trade system.People in Global South countries, including China and Sri Lanka, have only been able to earn meagre foreign exchange earnings by working really hard to provide high-quality, low-priced commodities to developed countries like the US. Meanwhile, the US, by occupying the high end of the industrial chain, has earned substantial profits by exporting services, high-tech products and equipment. What’s more, many products manufactured by developing countries like China and Sri Lanka and exported to developed countries are essentially products of Western companies.
“Openness and cooperation are the prevailing trends of history and mutual benefit is the shared aspiration of all. For the majority of countries committed to development and revitalization including Sri Lanka, a free and open multilateral trading system is of vital importance. A secure and stable international environment is indispensable, and the more cooperative and reliable economic and trade partners there are, the better.
Looking back at history, the evolution of globalization has always advanced through twists and turns amid turbulence. As the second largest economy, the second largest market for consumer goods, and a firm supporter of the multilateral trading system, China has always believed that cooperation is the only right path to addressing global challenges and multilateralism is the inevitable choice for overcoming the difficulties the world faces.
“Moreover, China will continue to advance high-standard opening up, and implement high-standard policies for trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, share development opportunities with the world to achieve mutual benefits, win-win outcomes and shared prosperity, and promote a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation.
China and Sri Lanka are good friends, good brothers and good partners from history to present. Our cooperation has become a model of South- South cooperation. Under the new circumstances, China stands ready to work with all countries in the world including Sri Lanka, to firmly uphold multilateralism, oppose economic bullying and trade protectionism, jointly safeguard international fairness and justice, and strive to foster a stable global environment for development. In this process, China will resolutely implement the important consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, bring greater opportunities to Sri Lanka through China’s high-quality development, and work together to jointly build a China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future for greater benefits of the people of the two countries and the region.”