Alexi Gunasekara, Minister-Counselor at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in China, talked with China Daily recently about China's development, business environment and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Gunasekara said that compared to ten years ago, a lot more Sri Lankans are doing business in China and some of them have opened offices here in cities from the capital Beijing to Kunming in the southwestern border province of Yunnan.

Speaking of the newly adopted Foreign Investment Law, the diplomat believes it will improve China's business environment and attract more investment from Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka was one of the earliest supporters and is a major beneficiary of the BRI.

Gunasekara mentioned the Sri Lankan projects constructed under the BRI: the Colombo port and Lotus Tower. The former is the largest single foreign direct investment in a project of Sri Lanka; the Colombo port project involved sea reclamation covering an area of 269 hectares that has changed the map of Sri Lanka; and the Lotus Tower, the tallest telecom tower in South Asia, is being built by a Chinese company and is expected to be completed soon.

Having visited more than 20 provinces in China, Gunasekara is impressed by the country's great change. "I cannot believe the development that has taken place over the ten years," he said.