Year 2008 was marked by two important visits by President Rajapaksa, first in April to attend the BOAO Forum, held in Sanya, Hainan and subsequently in August 2008, to attend the ceremonial opening of the "Beijing Olympic Games". Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa visited Beijing in March 2008 to participate in the promotional event "Sri Lanka Beyond Your Dreams" organized by the Embassy to celebrate 60 years of Independence of Sri Lanka which also marked the conclusion of celebrations lined up for the 50th Anniversary Relations between Sri Lanka and China.

In September 2008, Mr Yang Jiechi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China visited Sri Lanka in a bid to further consolidate and strengthen the harmonious and cordial relations between the two countries.

Economic cooperation between the two countries has also grown significantly since the establishment of diplomatic relations. Sri Lanka in the past has been the recipient of 7 grants totaling SL Rs. 130.4 million and 16 lines of credit totaling SL RS 394.8 million from China. The most prominent symbol of Chinese economic assistance to Sri Lanka remains the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), which is an enduring monument to Sri Lanka-China relations. China has also funded several other projects including the Supreme Courts Complex, the Central Main telecommunication Exchange, the Ginganga Flood Protection Scheme, the re-development of the Lady Ridgeway Children's Hospital, among others.

Trade relations between the two countries were formalized by the signing of a General Trade Agreement and Trade and Payment Agreement in 1952. In 1982 both countries signed a trade Agreement with a view to setting up a Joint Trade Committee. In 1984 an Agreement on Economic and Trade Cooperation was signed. In 1991 the two Joint Committees formed under the Agreement of 1982 and 1984 were amalgamated to constitute the Sri Lanka-China Joint Commission for Economic and Trade Cooperation.

Since 2007, China has featured prominently in Sri Lanka's socio - economic development efforts by funding key infrastructural projects. These include the Norocholai (Puttalam) Power Project, the Hambantota Port, and the Colombo - Katunayake Express Way. The Performing Arts Theatre is another key project that has commenced in Sri Lanka with Chinese assistance, which upon completion will stand as a symbol of enhancing 50 years of friendship between the two countries.

Co-operation in the field of agriculture has also been promoted in the recent years particularly with the signing of an MOU in February 2008 between the Ministry of Agriculture and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Mechanization Sciences (CAAMS). This has enabled the exchanges of high level delegations for improving agricultural research and technology transfer between the two countries.

An Agreement between the Govt. of Sri Lanka and the Govt. of Hong Kong SAR on Mutual legal Assistance in Criminal Matters were also signed on 15th June 2008 with the objective of improving the effectiveness of the law enforcement of both parties in the investigation, prosecution and prevention of crime and the confiscation of criminal proceeds.

Annually the Chinese government offers 104 scholarships for Sri Lankan students to study in Chinese universities covering areas of IT, medicine, engineering, Chinese language, social sciences, enterprise management etc. The Government of Sri Lanka, by way of a reciprocal gesture offers scholarships at the Kelaniya University for Chinese students to follow courses in Sinhala language under an MOU signed in 2007 between the Kelaniya University and Beijing Foreign Studies University of China on academic exchanges.

In the cultural field, Sri Lanka signed a Cultural Cooperation Agreement with China in August 1979. This was supplemented by a new agreement signed in 2008 which has facilitated regular exchange of artistes between two countries.

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Beijing is concurrently accredited to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Mongolia.

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