Sri Lankan PM arrives in Beijing for global women's summit

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Harini Amarasuriya arrived in Beijing on Sunday noon to attend the Global Women's Summit scheduled to take place in the Chinese capital from Monday to Tuesday.

The summit commemorates the 30th anniversary of the 1995 World Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing also with Sri Lanka's participation.

Click to Gallery

Sri Lankan PM arrives in Beijing for global women's summit

More Images

Sri Lankan PM arrives in Beijing for global women's summit

China and Sri Lanka share a long-standing friendship, with women-to-women exchanges composing a vital part of the bilateral relations. At the 1995 conference, Sri Lanka contributed to the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as a participating country.

Reflecting on this legacy, Amarasuriya noted that many of the concepts and goals established at the conference 30 years ago continue to hold significant relevance today. The return of the Global Women's Summit to Beijing after three decades marks a major milestone in the advancement of women's causes worldwide, she said.

She said she is honored to join other female leaders from around the world to exchange ideas and share experiences, pointing to broad prospects for Sri Lanka-China cooperation in promoting women's empowerment and gender equality. The Prime Minister also expressed her expectation to deepen win-win collaboration with China in areas directly impacting the well-being of women and children, such as education and healthcare. Amarasuriya noted that China has demonstrated through practice that promoting women's participation in social and economic activities could effectively elevate their status and grant them greater freedom and confidence. Against this backdrop, she expressed her belief that the Beijing summit will offer a key opportunity to discuss the future of women's development worldwide.

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.