Sri Lanka Hits By Crisis, Chinese President Xi Jinping Offers Best Help And Support For New Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe

President Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe. (Wikimedia Commons/Vikalpa/Groundviews/Maatram/CPA)

JAKARTA - Chinese President Xi Jinping offered Sri Lanka's new president his support on Friday, state broadcaster CCTV reported, as the Indian Ocean island grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, a lawyer who has served as Sri Lanka's prime minister six times, was sworn in Thursday in the face of fierce public opposition.

The Sri Lankan crisis sparked months of mass protests and eventually forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to leave the country, before finally stepping down.

In his message, President Xi said he was confident Sri Lanka would be able to move towards economic and social recovery. He also said he was "ready to provide support and assistance to the best of my ability to President Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lankan people in their endeavors".

Sri Lanka owes at least US$5 billion to China, although some estimates put it at nearly double that amount. India has also lent it $3.8 billion and Japan owes at least $3.5 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with another $1 billion from rich countries.

Separately, President Wickremesinghe has declared a state of emergency. Security forces raided and partially cleared a protest camp that occupied a government compound in Colombo on Friday, sparking fears that Wickremesinghe had launched a crackdown the day after he was sworn in.