A top Sri Lankan diplomat in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, hopes her country will become a hub for provincial enterprises to expand in South Asia.

Sri Lanka is a key stop planned under China's 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, said Yasoja Kusalini Gunasekera, her country's consul general in Guangzhou.

The Sri Lankan government is transforming the nation into a South Asian hub for knowledge, aviation, shipping, energy and business, she said.