by Our Correspondent in Colombo
China’s Yunnan province is seeking to expand media cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and youth programmes with Sri Lanka, while promoting wider collaboration in culture, tourism, agriculture, digital development and trade, Mr. Tian Jing, a member of the Party Committee and Editor-in-Chief of the Yunnan Daily Press Group, said at the China–Sri Lanka Friendship Organizations Symposium in Colombo on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
Speaking on “Introducing Yunnan–Sri Lanka Media Collaboration, the Development of People-to-People and Cultural Exchange Mechanisms, and Cooperation Outcomes”, Tian described Yunnan as a geographical link between China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Yunnan borders Laos, Thailand and Myanmar and was described at the symposium as the gateway to Southeast Asia and South Asia. Tian said the province had a particular role to play in strengthening communication and cooperation with Sri Lanka, while recalling the long historical connections between China and the island.
“Although Yunnan and Sri Lanka are on opposite sides of the mountain, they have never severed their ties,” Tian said. He referred to the voyages of Zheng He, the Ming Dynasty envoy, and said that Zheng He had travelled to Sri Lanka several times during his seven voyages to the Western Seas more than 600 years ago. Tian also referred to a visit by the symposium participants to the Sri Lanka National Museum earlier on Saturday, saying they had witnessed the traces left by Zheng He and the stories of friendship between China and Sri Lanka that they represented. “Yunnan and Sri Lanka are two countries separated from the sea, yet our friendship has been continuous for thousands of years,” he said.
Tian then outlined a series of recent initiatives intended to develop those links through media, youth and cultural exchanges. He referred to August 2025, when, under the leadership and guidance of the Information Office of the Yunnan Provincial Government, the Yunnan Communication Center organised a China–Sri Lanka friendship symposium in Colombo. More than 100 representatives participated, with activities including music, tea-making and storytelling. He said such programmes were intended to strengthen exchanges despite the geographical distance between the two sides. “Each year, even though we are separated by mountains and rivers, we still put our great efforts in strengthening our friendship,” he said.
He also highlighted a youth cultural dialogue forum held in Colombo in August 2025 and another youth cultural dialogue forum held in Yunnan in June 2026. According to Tian, the June programme brought together more than 10 media organisations from Sri Lanka and 20 journalists from Yunnan, who undertook a 10-day survey covering several locations in the province. He said the programmes allowed participants to exchange experiences and develop a more direct understanding of each other’s societies and media sectors.
Tian also described the China–Sri Lanka Media Cooperation Seminar held in Yunnan in June 2026, under the organising efforts of the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies and the Yunnan Communication Center. More than 20 journalists from 10 media organisations travelled to Kunming to study Chinese journalism and visit locations including Kunming, Gual and Yuxi. Tian said the journalists were able to examine “first-hand practice in the journalism sector”, while the exchanges also created opportunities for media organisations from Sri Lanka, China and other parts of Southeast Asia to work jointly on new productions.
Among the projects he identified was a series of short stories focusing on “dreams, struggles, and growth” among young people in China and Southeast Asia. Tian said that, during 2026, Yunnan media organisations had also collaborated with a Sri Lankan working studio to produce a micro-documentary about younger generations in China and Sri Lanka. “We have told the stories by explaining the dreams, the struggles, and also the growth of the younger generation of the two countries,” he said.
Tian said cooperation was also being maintained with Sri Lankan cultural and social organisations, including the Sri Lanka-China Cultural Cooperation Association and the Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Cooperation Association. He referred to arrangements involving the South Asian-Indonesian Media Alliance to develop people-to-people dialogue and media cooperation.
Tea was another recurring theme in Tian’s presentation. He described tea as a shared cultural connection between Yunnan and Sri Lanka. “Yunnan people and Sri Lankan people all love a cup of tea,” he said. “We make friends through drinking tea. We negotiate cooperation through drinking tea.” He called for the China–Sri Lanka friendship organisations to continue supporting exchanges so that “the friendship will last forever”. He added that, with the support of the China–Sri Lanka Friendship Association, the two sides could have “more taste of tea and achieve more progress through communication and cooperation”.
Tian then set out a series of proposals for future cooperation. His first proposal was to “build a garden of Chinese-Sri Lankan civilization together”, with media organisations and associations sharing news resources, conducting joint interviews and reports, supporting personnel exchanges and developing cooperation in new media technology. He called for wider cooperation in culture, art and tourism and for more projects involving “information resource sharing, joint interview, personnel exchange and dispatches, as well as interviews and joint productions”.
His second proposal focused on young people. Tian said China and Sri Lanka should “light up the lantern of friendship between Chinese and Sri Lankan youth” by establishing a youth exchange platform, developing media-learning programmes for Sri Lankan youth and organising youth leadership activities. He proposed discussions involving young people from both countries on subjects including commentary, environmental protection, digitalisation and cultural education. He also called for internship and learning opportunities for journalists and scholars from both countries, including programmes addressing poverty alleviation, environmental protection and digital technology.
Tian also proposed expanding commercial and development-related cooperation. He said Yunnan and Sri Lanka could work together on areas including trade, green energy, agriculture, tourism and media-related development. He specifically mentioned Yunnan products such as Pu’er tea, fresh-cut flowers and new energy products, saying these could be promoted in Sri Lanka, while Sri Lankan tea and sapphires could be promoted in the Chinese market. “Together, also we could discuss about our cooperation potentials in terms of media plus agriculture, media plus digital development, media plus livelihood of ordinary people,” he said.
His proposals placed media cooperation alongside economic and social exchanges, with Tian calling for cooperation connecting media with agriculture, digital development and the livelihoods of ordinary people, while continuing exchanges involving culture, tourism, education, youth and technology.
He concluded by returning to the geographical distance between the two countries and the idea of shared movement across the Indian Ocean. “We are actually on the same cruise in the friendship boat across the Indian Ocean. We are on the same ship together,” he said. “We are all navigators with the same purpose. We are friends that cannot be separated by mountains and seas.”
Tian invited Sri Lankan participants to visit Yunnan and experience the province directly. “Welcome all of our Sri Lankan friends to visit Yunnan, to enjoy in Yunnan a many splendid life,” he said.
