Sri Lanka receives China’s first shipment of emergency food assistance

China's first emergency humanitarian assistance shipment of 1,000 tons of rice for Sri Lanka arrived at the Colombo International Container Terminal, Colombo, Sri Lanka on June 28.

Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong and Sri Lankan Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardane welcomed the shipment at the terminal.

Gunawardane thanked China for lending a helping hand to Sri Lanka at a time of crisis, saying that a total of 10,000 tons of rice provided by China will support meals for 1.1 million students at 7,900 schools in nine provinces for up to six months.

A friend in need is a friend indeed, Gunawardane said, adding that the Chinese aid once again demonstrates the long-standing friendship between China and Sri Lanka, which will always be remembered by the government and people of Sri Lanka.

Qi said that vulnerable groups, including children, have been most affected by the economic crisis. Children are the future of a country, and China is willing to work together with Sri Lanka to give priority to ensuring children's food, health and basic education under difficult circumstances, so as to help Sri Lanka tide over the difficulties as soon as possible.

Between April and May this year, the Chinese government announced that it would provide a total of 500 million yuan ($74.2 million) in emergency humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka to help the country cope with its current difficulties.

This is the largest non-repayable aid that Sri Lanka has received since the outbreak of its economic and livelihood crisis. China pledged to provide Sri Lanka with a total of 10,000 tons of rice as food aid to support the country's student meal program.