The Critical Evaluation of the China- Sri Lanka Economic Relationship

Abstract

China and Sri Lanka have a very close relationship from the ancient time. Sri Lanka was a prominent place in ancient Silk Road. The cultural and religious effects make an impact on economic relationship of these two countries. The official economic relationship was started on 1957 in the period of late Prime Minister Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranayake.  The relationship has been growing for more than 5 decades. China helped Sri Lanka in different serious situations. Especially during the Elam war period, China helped Sri Lankan government in numerous ways. The China- Sri Lanka first agreement was the Sino-Lanka agreement which is activated more than 30 years. Currently China becomes Sri Lanka biggest investor. The Chinese government started different development projects in Sri Lanka. This research is to understand the mutual benefits for the two countries and the challenges. This research is largely descriptive and author used qualitative data for the subsequent analysis. Data was collect by the different resources such as news articles, research papers, working papers, conference reports and etc.  China has become a treat to the world with their growing economy and new economic projects, But Sri Lanka should use it as an opportunity towards country development. If Sri Lankan government uses it brainy, they can expand their exports and develop the tourism to large number of countries. China has built a path for Sri Lankans to develop their economy. Even though Sri Lanka is a small country compared to China, there are numerous situations which Sri Lanka helped to Chinese government. Though there are so much of Challenges the economic relationship will expand and develop in future decades.