Sri Lanka formally hands over Hambantota port to China on lease

Colombo: Sri Lanka on Saturday formally handed over the southern sea port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease.

Two Chinese firms - Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) and Hambantota International Port Services (HIPS) managed by the China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CMPort) and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority will own the port and the investment zone around it, officials said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during a



visit to China in April had agreed to swap equity in Chinese infrastructure projects launched by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in his home district. Sri Lanka owed China US 8 billion then finance minister Ravi Karunanayake had said last year.

'With this agreement we have started to pay back the loans. Hambantota will be converted to a major port in the Indian Ocean,' Wickremesinghe said while addressing the handing over ceremony held in parliament.