On the afternoon of April 8, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council held talks with President Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka at her presidential palace. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the progress and achievements of China-Sri Lanka friendly cooperation and confidence over the development prospect of bilateral relations. They also affirmed to continue to be committed to promoting China-Sri Lanka traditional friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Kumaratunga said the friendly exchanges between the people of Sri-Lanka and China can be traced back to 1000 years ago. Bilateral relations have become increasingly close with fruitful cooperation since the two countries established diplomatic ties in the 1950s. The government and people of Sri Lanka warmly welcome Premier Wen's visit to their country and believe the visit will substantially push forward the development of bilateral friendly cooperation. She reiterated Sri Lanka firmly upholds the one-China policy and supports the adoption of the Anti-Secession Law by the National People's Congress of China and all the efforts made by the Chinese side to safeguard territorial integrity. Kumaratunga expressed sincere gratitude for China's timely assistance to Sri Lanka after it was hit by the tsunami disaster. The people of Sri Lanka were deeply moved by the fact that many Chinese, including children and students, donated money to Sri Lanka spontaneously.

Wen said China and Sri Lanka are friends who share each other's pains. The tsunami disaster that took place at the end of last year inflicted significant human and property losses on Sri Lanka. With this visit, he would like to express his sympathy and sincere condolence to the government and people of Sri Lanka in a face to face manner. The financial and material assistance provided by China has been in place successively. China's Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Red Cross Society of China will provide another USD 8.7 million donated by the Chinese people to Sri Lanka, which represents the best wishes of the Chinese people for their Sri Lankan counterparts. Wen stressed China's assistance is limited as China itself is a developing nation, but the friendly feelings borne by the Chinese people to their Sri Lankan counterparts are heartfelt and their help is sincere. He hoped the donation can contribute to the Sri Lankan people's reconstruction of their homes.

As for bilateral relations, Wen noted China-Sri Lanka friendship enjoys a long history and the two peoples have established deep feelings for each other during the process of exchanges. Recent years have witnessed the rapid development of China-Sri Lanka relations with frequent exchanges of top-level visit, expanding cooperation in economic, trade, culture, educational, scientific and technological areas, deepening friendship between the peoples as well as mutual support and close coordination in international affairs. There is no problem between China and Sri Lanka at all, which makes the bilateral relations an example of friendly cooperation between countries with different national conditions and social systems.

Wen pointed out the Chinese government pursues the foreign policy of "being a good neighbor and partner" and cherishes the traditional friendly and cooperative relations with Sri Lanka. He proposed to position China-Sri Lanka relations as comprehensive partnership of sincerity, mutual help and everlasting friendship. He also offered four suggestions to enrich the partnership. First, to consolidate traditional friendship and continue to expand personnel exchanges between the governments, parliaments, political parties and the youths of the two countries. Second, to enhance economic and trade cooperation, seek common development and actively explore new channels for cooperation through preferential loans and enhanced exchanges between the business communities of the two countries. Third, to expand cooperation areas and consolidate the basis for bilateral relations. China and Sri Lanka boast a good foundation of cooperation in agriculture, fishery and tourism, a bright prospect for energy cooperation and great potential in exchanges in cultural, educational and religious areas. Fourth, to strengthen bilateral coordination and support in international and regional affairs. Wen appreciates the firm support of the Sri Lankan government for China on the Taiwan issue. He noted that China also supports the efforts of Sri Lanka to safeguard national unity, territorial integrity and national dignity and welcomes Sri Lanka to play an active part in international and regional affairs. China would like to enhance cooperation with Sri Lanka in international and regional organizations in a bid to contribute to world peace, stability and development.

Kumaratunga agreed with Premier Wen on his suggestions and made positive response. She emphasized that the pragmatic suggestions proposed by Premier Wen demonstrate the friendly feelings borne by the Chinese people, conform to the actual needs of Sri Lanka, benefit the economic development of the country and mark a great step forward in bilateral relations.

The two sides also exchanged views on the situation of South Asia. Wen stressed as a close neighbor of the region China hopes the South Asian nations can respect each other, coexist peacefully and achieve common development. China would like to establish long-term stable relations of good neighborliness and cooperation with South Asian nations and make joint efforts with all parties involved, including Sri Lanka, to continue to play a constructive role in promoting peace and development of the South Asian region. Kumaratunga highly complimented the stance of China.

Following the talks, Wen and Kumaratunga attended the signing ceremony of 6 bilateral cooperative documents including the Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Governments of China and Sri Lanka.