BEIJING, Sept. 16 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Colombo on Tuesday for the first state visit to Sri Lanka by a Chinese head of state in decades.

The following are some major events about China-Sri Lanka relations.

On Feb. 7, 1957, China and Sri Lanka established diplomatic relations. In 1986, then Chinese President Li Xiannian paid a visit to the South Asian island country.

On April 21-27, 1996, then Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga paid a state visit to China at the invitation of then Chinese President Jiang Zeming. The two sides signed two agreements to enhance economic cooperation.

On May 17-19, 1996, then Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji paid a three-day official visit to Sri Lanka to further consolidate and develop friendship and cooperation between the two countries. The two sides agreed on further development of friendly and cooperative relations and signed an agreement on economic and technological cooperation.

On Aug. 9-13, 2003, then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe paid a five-day working visit to China. During the visit, the two governments vowed to boost economic and technological cooperation, avoid dual taxation and fight tax evasion. China also agreed to provide Sri Lanka with preferential loans.

On, April 8-9, 2005, then Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Sri Lanka. The two sides issued a joint communique committing themselves to developing an all-round cooperative partnership featuring sincere support and everlasting friendship.

On Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2005, Kumaratunga paid a five-day state visit to China at the invitation of then Chinese President Hu Jintao. The two countries inked eight landmark agreements on cultural, economic, financial and tourism cooperation.

On Feb. 26-March 4, 2007, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited China on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic ties. In a joint press communique, China and Sri Lanka pledged to further enhance exchanges and cooperation, and lift the China-Sri Lanka all-round cooperative partnership to higher levels.

On May 27-30, 2013, Rajapaksa paid a four-day state visit to China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two sides agreed to upgrade their relations to a strategic cooperative partnership, and vowed to promote cooperation in such areas as trade, investment, tourism and defense.

On May 22, 2014, Xi met Rajapaksa in Shanghai on the sidelines of a summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.

During their meeting, Xi called for joint efforts to build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and promote the China-Sri Lanka free trade talks. The Sri Lankan president vowed to facilitate maritime cooperation with China and invited Xi to visit his country.