SRI LANKA PRESIDENT WILL VISIT CHINA AS DEBT TALKS PROGRESS

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit China next week as the crisis-hit country makes progress on debt restructuring talks with its biggest lender. Wickremesinghe took office in July last year, after a popular uprising, brought on by an economic meltdown, had forced his predecessor out of power. His Oct. 15-19 visit to Beijing will be his first to China since then.

Wickremesinghe, who is also finance minister, has been leading Sri Lanka's push to manage its heavy debt and keep funds flowing from a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. He will attend a Belt and Road Forum in Beijing that would mark the 10th anniversary of the initiative championed by China's President Xi Jinping to develop global infrastructure and energy networks. Wickremesinghe is expected to meet Xi on the sidelines of the forum, said the source who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak with the media. The Sri Lankan leader could also meet China's finance and foreign ministers.

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