Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin Photo: mfa.gov.cn

China will continue to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to play an active role in helping Sri Lanka address its debt problem and achieve sustainable development, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

In response to the IMF approving a $3 billion loan program for Sri Lanka, Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday that China sees this move as positive development and believes the move will be conducive to helping Sri Lanka address its debt woes.

Wang mentioned that the Export-Import Bank of China has provided Sri Lanka with a letter supporting the sustainability of Sri Lanka's debt, and help relevant parties genuinely and quickly resolve the debt issue, demonstrating China's goodwill and action to supporting Sri Lanka to achieve economic sustainability.

China will continue to play an active role in the issue and China calls on commercial creditors to provide debt treatment in an equally comparable manner, and encourage multilateral creditors to do their utmost to make corresponding contributions, Wang said.

Sri Lanka's largest creditors are international financial organizations like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, and a substantial amount is also owed to other institutional investors from the West, including those on Wall Street, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to China PalithaKohona told the Global Times in a previous interview. 

Other creditors include Japan, China and India. Only about 10 percent of Sri Lanka's external debt is owed to China.

The Foreign Ministry has stated in February that China attaches great importance to debt relief for developing countries and will continue to work with international society to provide necessary support to the best of its capabilities to related countries facing financial hardship.