Dec 06, Colombo: China hopes relevant countries and international financial institutions work with China to play a constructive role to ease Sri Lanka’s debt burden helping the island nation to overcome difficulties, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday.

The spokesperson was responding to a request to comment on media reports that an IMF team will travel to China this week to discuss faster progress on debt restructuring for countries, including Sri Lanka, which is trying to get an assistance package from the IMF.

Commenting on Sri Lanka’s debt issue, Mao Ning stressed that China attaches high importance to Sri Lanka’s difficulties and challenges.

“On Sri Lanka’s debt issue, I’d like to stress that we support the financial institutions in working out ways with Sri Lanka to properly solve the issue,” the spokesperson said.

“We also hope relevant countries and international financial institutions will work with China and continue to play a constructive role in helping Sri Lanka overcome the current difficulties, ease its debt burden and realize sustainable development,” she added.

She said China has long-standing sound cooperation with the IMF and other international economic and financial institutions.