MOA Chief Livestock Officer Ma Aiguo led a delegation to Sri Lanka and attended the opening ceremony of the Colombo International Tea Convention and the Coconut, Rubber, Tea (CRT) Trade Fair on 8-12 August 2017. He also had a bilateral meeting with Minister of Plantation Industries of Sri Lanka Mr. Navin Dissanayake.
Mr. Ma noted that China and Sri Lanka share a traditional friendship. The two countries have witnessed frequent exchanges of high-level agricultural visits, and enjoy ever-deepening agricultural cooperation. Sri Lanka is a leading producer and exporter of tea, and has technological advantage in tropical agriculture, natural rubber and coconut in particular. China is willing to strengthen technological cooperation with Sri Lanka in tropical agriculture, and welcomes the export of premium agricultural produce, such as tea, from Sri Lanka to China.
Mr. Dissanayake extended a warm welcome to the Chinese delegation and said that Sri Lanka highly values agricultural cooperation with China. He hoped that the two sides could tighten cooperation in areas of technology research and development, personnel exchanges and capacity building, and welcomed investments from Chinese businesses to Sri Lanka.
During the stay, the Chinese delegation also visited the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) as well as local tea factories and fishing ports.