CPPCC Chairman Meets Sri Lankan GuestLi, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that China and Sri Lanka, two neighboring countries, enjoy a long history of friendship. He said that Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to recognize the People's Republic of China, and bilateral cooperation has continued to grow since the establishment of diplomatic ties over 40 years ago. Li said that China is the most populous country in the world and the CPC has the largest number of party members among all political parties around the world. The Chinese people, under the leadership of the CPC, have made universally acknowledged great achievements during the past 52 years, he added. The CPC also has some lessons to learn from the past, Li said. He said that the CPC adopted the reform and open-up policy in late 1970s, and since then great changes have taken place in China. Li said that practice has shown that political parties in power need to pay attention to economic development and substantially improve people's living conditions if they want to stay in power and win the support of the people. The CPC and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, both ruling parties in their respective countries, should further enhance exchanges and cooperation so as to push forward the friendly cooperation between the two countries, Li stressed. Li asked Disanayaka to convey General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Jiang Zemin's and his own greetings to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. Disanayaka said that his party has always attached great importance to its relations with the CPC. The friendly contacts between the older generation leaders of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the CPC have generated a sincere friendship between the two peoples. Disanayaka said that his current visit to China is an important event in the relations between his party and the CPC. The great achievements made by China after its reform and opening up have impressed him deeply, Disanayaka said. He said that the new generation leaders of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party will continue to develop its friendly relations with the CPC and push forward the relations between the two countries in the new century. He stressed that Sri Lanka will continue to support China's positions on the Taiwan and human rights issues. |
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