During the last five years some 100,000 Sri Lankans have worked in Chinese assisted projects in the island, says China Chamber of Commerce spokesman Chen Chuan.

For example, some 4,500 Sri Lankans were engaged in the Chinese assisted project to construct the A9 highway to the north, whereas on 02 per cent were Chinese.

With the Sri Lankan government recently halting almost all Chinese funded projects in Sri Lanka, China urged the government to honour all bi-lateral agreements and trade contracts signed between the two countries.

Following the halting of the approximately USD 1.4 billion investment Colombo Port City project, the Chinese embassy in Colombo informed the government to take steps to safeguard the aspirations of the Chinese investors.

The government decided to stop the Colombo Port City project till inquiries into alleged irregularities are investigated into and the contractors to the project, China Communications Construction Company agreed to do so.