Kandy and Qingdao sign letter of intent for an agreement on establishing sister city relations

Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China Dr. Palitha Kohona visited Qingdao on Monday to witness the signature of a letter of intent between Qingdao and Kandy, on establishing friendly and cooperative relations between the two cities. The signatures were affixed through a video connection, Sri Lankan embassy in Beijing said.

The signatories were Mayor Zhao Hao Zhibin for Qingdao and Mayor Kesara Senanayaka for Kandy.

Earlier, the Mayor of Qingdao, Zhao, warmly welcomed Ambassador Kohona and his delegation and provided a general briefing on Qingdao. Mayor Zhao said that from January to September 2021, Qingdao's GDP grew by 7.1%, and it is expected to achieve a total import and export volume of 800 billion yuan this year.

In Qingdao, home appliances and electronic information systems are the leading industries. The Maglev train was built in Qingdao. The development momentum of high-end machinery manufacturing and the marine economy was very satisfactory.

Qingdao hopes to strengthen exchanges with Sri Lanka in economic, trade and cultural tourism sectors. He said that in 2020, the trade volume between Qingdao and Sri Lanka was about US $100 million. He hoped that the two sides would strengthen exchanges further in the future.

Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona introduced Sri Lanka, and Kandy in particular, to Mayor Zhao, and expressed the expectation that relations would be strengthened further through enhanced exchanges and cooperation between the two sides in the future.

The Deputy Secretary of the CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee, the Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong, and the Mayor of Kandy Kasera D. Senanayake delivered speeches at the event. Member of the Standing Committee of the municipal Party committee and vice mayor Xue Qingguo presided.

Ambassador Kohona, speaking at the event, said that over the past 70 years, Sri Lanka and China have maintained close cooperation in various sectors, and the two countries have supported each other in multilateral fora. He said that he was happy that he was the bridge between Kandy and Qingdao as they fostered closer and friendlier relations to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results. Kandy could benefit from Qingdao's booming economy, it's cutting-edge technology and world class education facilities.