COLOMBO, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Colombo offered "the Government Scholarship and Chinese Ambassador Scholarship" to 18 Sri Lankan students Wednesday to study in China.
Speaking at the awarding ceremony, Chinese Ambassador Yi Xianliang said China was the leading foreign investor in Sri Lanka with many development projects, and China was also providing the highest number of scholarships and training programs to Sri Lankan students.
"Economic development is important, but this is not enough. We will continue our efforts to support Sri Lankan students in studying in China and training in China," Yi said.
Yi noted that with many development projects ongoing in Sri Lanka which are supported by the Chinese government and Chinese companies, Sri Lanka lacked qualified professionals to work in these projects.
Currently, there are 80 Sri Lankan students who are studying in prestigious universities across China on scholarships supported by the Chinese government.
Sri Lanka needs these students for the development of this country, and when they return back in the future, they will be qualified professionals to develop Sri Lanka, Yi said.
Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education Madawa Devasurendra said at the awarding ceremony that Sri Lanka appreciated China's assistance to provide these scholarships as it had changed the lives of many students.
Devasurendra said there was great enthusiasm among Sri Lankan students to study in China under the Chinese government scholarships and the number of applications increased every year.
