China to fully supply school uniform fabric for Sri Lankan students in 2025

COLOMBO, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government will fully supply the fabric needed for school uniforms free of charge for all public-school students in Sri Lanka in 2025, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong has said.

During his speech at the Award Ceremony of the Chinese Ambassador Scholarship at Keppetipola Maha Vidyalaya in Gampaha, Qi noted that in 2023 and 2024, China donated 70 percent and 80 percent of the fabric for school uniforms to public school students nationwide, respectively.

Qi stated that the 2025 donation will total 11.82 million meters of fabric, valued at approximately 5.2 billion rupees (around 18 million U.S. dollars).

The fabric is expected to arrive in Colombo in three shipments before the end of this year, he said.

Following Sri Lanka's economic crisis in 2022, China donated 10,000 tons of rice to the country, covering half a year's lunch needs for 1.1 million students across 7,900 schools in Sri Lanka's nine provinces, Qi said.

In recent weeks, China has provided about 30 million rupees (roughly 102,000 dollars) in emergency humanitarian aid to assist over 100,000 affected individuals in overcoming challenges and rebuilding their homes, he said.