BEIJING, July 16 -- Xinhua's new Silk Road information service is providing Sri Lanka with much-needed information to promote its exports to China, Sri Lanka's Commercial Counselor to China Ruwanthi Ariyaratne said Thursday.

The China Economic Information Service, a unit under China's state-owned Xinhua News Agency, Thursday launched its latest Xinhua Silk Road information service in both Chinese and English, which will be committed to providing investment and trade information to enterprises from China and the Belt and Road countries and regions.

Xinhua News Agency, China's official news outlet, provides quality news and reliable information products, Ariyaratne said after the launching ceremony.

"The information provided by Xinhua Silk Road is very important to businesses in our country, especially the English version which helps overcome language troubles for us in accessing information about China," Ariyaratne told Xinhua.

Ariyaratne applauds Xinhua's efforts to build such an information outlet and business connection mechanism to help Belt and Road investors access all-around trade and investment information about China.

Ariyaratne is particularly interested in the trade matching platform and credit reporting service provided by Xinhua Silk Road, which she believes would help trade and investment grow between China and Sri Lanka.

The South Asian country now mainly exports tea and gems to China and has received a growing number of Chinese tourists in recent years. With the launch of Xinhua Silk Road, Ariyaratne expects more Chinese enterprises to invest in Sri Lanka and to export industrial goods such as iron ore and steel to her country.