Will Sri Lanka and China push for FTA or just engage in economic diplomacy?

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao has called for a comprehensive free-trade agreement between the two countries ‘in one package’

A long-delayed free-trade agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and China appears to be back on the agenda, even as analysts warn that the crisis-hit South Asian nation is not expected to benefit much from it for years after its implementation.

Sri Lanka’s officials are cautiously optimistic the FTA could help narrow the country’s huge trade deficit with China.

First proposed in 2014, talks between both sides for an FTA have been on hold after 2018 because Sri Lanka did not agree to some of the terms.

Last week, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao called for a comprehensive FTA between the two countries “in one package”. Speaking at the Sri Lanka–China Trade and Investment Forum in Colombo, Wang said negotiations for the agreement should be based on “mutual benefit”.