Now the path to the throne is clear!! Well played CHINA!!!

While it attempts to recover from a protracted crisis, Sri Lanka is on target to receive a new petroleum distribution hub and refinery at the Chinese-operated port of Hambantota, thanks to Chinese state oil firm Sinopec.

Sinopec and CMPorts both sent official delegations to Sri Lanka this month to look at business opportunities, according to the Chinese embassy in Colombo. There are remnants of an earlier deal in the ongoing discussions about debt relief and the hunt for investments: in 2018, CMPorts agreed to buy Hambantota Port through the year 2017, paying the Sri Lankan government $1.1 billion to pay off debt.

Midway through 2022, fuel problems in Sri Lanka led to the removal of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July. Donor countries have provided loans and grants to fill the deficit, while the government of Japan has donated 20 million litres of fuel to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government needs assistance from Chinese lenders and is awaiting an IMF rescue package of $2.9 billion to handle its financial situation. On March 13, President Ranil Wickremesinghe met with a Sinopec delegation to go through plans for building an oil refinery and distribution centre in Hambantota. The refinery will be built entirely on Sinopec’s dime.