Concerns over SL-China FTA misplaced: Chinese envoy

Some people fear that FTA will result in Chinese products dominating Sri Lankan market 

By Kelum Bandara

Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong said that some people in Sri Lanka believe that a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China would result in deeper market access for Chinese goods here, but such concerns are misplaced.

Addressing the representatives of media and think-tanks last Friday, the ambassador said that the two sides had six rounds of negotiations, but any progress is yet to be made.

Regarding bilateral cooperation, he said China believed that a lot of potential still remained intact in the realms of politics, economy, people-to-people exchanges and cultures.

“We have already made a lot of achievements in this regard, but I believe in the future, we can still do more. One example is the free trade negotiation between China and Sri Lanka,” he notes.

“We have already had six rounds of negotiation. However, no notable progress has been made. Sri Lanka is worried that China’s size is large and Sri Lanka’s size small,” he said.

Many friends from Sri Lanka worry that after signing the free trade zone agreement, the products from China will dominate the Sri Lankan markets. That’s what they are worried about. I told them this worry is groundless,” he added. He said China was the largest trading partner of Sri Lanka as well as the largest source of importation.

The two-way trade volume has come close to US $ 6.2 billion. 

The exports from China to Sri Lanka was around US $ 5.7 billion US dollars, whereas the Sri Lankan exports to China was only US $ 300 million. The Ambassador said that China is not pursuing a big trade surplus.

Commenting on post–Ditwah assistance, he said that China made a lot of contributions in the rescue and reconstruction works.

The Chinese government is planning to build more than 14 bridges in Sri Lanka, he said.