BEIJING, March 25, 2024 (AFP) - Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena

arrived in China Monday for a visit during which he will meet President Xi
Jinping and is expected to discuss restructuring Colombo's vast debts to its
biggest overseas creditor.

Chinese officials greeted Gunawardena with a bouquet and a red-carpet welcome
at an airport on the outskirts of Beijing before a motorcade whisked him into
the capital, footage by state broadcaster CCTV showed.

China's foreign ministry said Friday that Xi and Gunawardena would conduct
"an in-depth exchange of views on continuing the China-Sri Lanka traditional
friendship".

As well as meeting Xi, Gunawardena will attend the Boao Forum, a high-profile
international meeting on the island province of Hainan, before his departure
on Saturday, according to official statements by both countries.

Ties between Beijing and Colombo have come under scrutiny during Sri Lanka's
years-long economic crisis.

Beijing accounts for around 10 percent of the island nation's total foreign
debt.

Last year, Sri Lanka secured a $2.9 billion bailout from the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), conditional on a debt deal that satisfies the island
nation's foreign creditors.

The IMF said last week it had reached a staff-level agreement with Colombo to
clear the way for the release of $337 million, the third instalment of the
four-year bailout.

But it said the "critical" next steps were to finalise agreements with
creditors.

China agreed "in principle" to a restructuring in December, but neither side
have given details and the two are yet to seal a final deal.