The Chinese President arrives in Sri Lanka today.

The Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive on a two day official visit to Sri Lanka today on an invitation of President Mahinda Rajapakse. The visit will further consolidate the relationship existing between the two countries. The President during his visit to China recently agreed to upgrade the relationship between China and Sri Lanka to strategic levels. The visiting Chinese President is scheduled to hold vital discussions with the president and also to sign several agreements and MoUs.

The Chinese President together with President Mahinda Rajapakse will commission the 2nd and 3rd stages of the Lakvijaya Coal power plant at Norachcholai this evening. The plant with these stages will increase its capacity to 900 megawatts to the national grid. The total cost of the plant which was started in the year 2006 will be 1,341 million US dollars.

Meanwhile, the Deputy General Manager of China’s Import and Export Bank Lee Ventard said that during the visit of the Chinese President, several agreements relating to construction of expressways and highways will also be signed. The bank has provided funds for construction of several projects in the country. Mr. Ventard commended the steps that had been taken by the government for improving common development activities.

The Chinese president Xi Jinping will also initiate on the invitation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the construction work of the Colombo Port City. Under this project 500 acres will be reclaimed from the sea. The china construction communication company will invest 1,400 million US dollars for the building of the port city which will comprise several modern facilities including tourist hotels, luxury houses, and shopping malls.

The police department informed that certain roads in the Colombo city will be closed from 10.30 am to 1.00 pm today due to the arrival of the Chinese president. These roads are Colombo – Katunayake expressway, Peliyagoda to Bambalapitiya via Kanaththa roundabout and from Bambalapitiya to Galle face roundabout. These roads will be restricted from container traffic from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm. restriction of traffic will also be carried out from 4.30 pm to 9.00 pm from kolllupitiya junction up to old parliament roundabout and from the parliament roundabout to ceramic junction including the lotus road and the bank road. Entry of people to the galleface greens will also be curtailed form 4.00 pm to 8.00 pm.