Delivering the Chief Guest’s address, in jointly launching the book on the Sino-Lanka relations titled “The Island of the Lion and the Land of the Dragon” in order to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries, Dr. Coomaraswamy said China has been one of Sri Lanka’s largest development partners and a strong friend.

According to the China’s official news agency, Xinhua, the book consists of a series of essays on Sri Lanka, China relations compiled by Sri Lanka and Chinese scholars and is a joint publication of the Pathfinder Foundation in Sri Lanka and the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

“This launch is the outcome of some very hard work. While Sino-Lanka relations have been excellent for many years, the future is even more exciting,” Coomaraswamy said.

Charge D’Affairs of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, Pang Chunxue said the launch of this book was a very unique moment in the relations between the two countries.

Pang said that while 2017 was a very important year for the bilateral relations of China and Sri Lanka as the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 65th anniversary of the Rubber Rice Pact, the launch of this book was a good start for 2018.