Source: CCTV.com

02-26-2007 16:54

China and Sri Lanka is celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties in 2007. Leaders in both countries have named it the China-Sri Lanka year. China's ambassador to Sri Lanka, Ye Dabo, says the relationship between the two countries has always been good.

In Sri Lanka's capital of Colombo and the southern city of Galle, people interviewed talked of China and the Chinese people as friends.

The relationship could go back more than 2000 years ago. Chinese Buddhist scholar Faxian of the Jin Dynasty and Navigator Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty both visited Sri Lanka. A prince from Sri Lanka once visited Beijing and Fujian Province.

Cultural, trade and religious exchanges have never stopped.

In the 1940s, Sri Lanka was one of the first to recognize New China. In 1952, Sri Lanka signed a trade agreement with China.

Five years later, diplomatic relations were established.