Yantai firm completes Sri Lanka university hospital project

The completion ceremony of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Hospital, which was constructed by the Yantai firm Yanjian Group over four years, was celebrated in grand style recently in Ratmalana, a suburb of Colombo in Sri Lanka.

The General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Hospital. [Photo/Yantai municipal bureau of commerce WeChat account]

His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena, the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Yang Zuoyuan, economic and commercial counselor at China's embassy in Sri Lanka, took part in the ceremony.

Accompanied by project managers from the Yanjian Group, President Sirisena visited the hospital and watched a promotional video of the hospital. He spoke highly of the design, interior fittings and overall quality of the hospital, as well as its great influence on the long-term development of Sri Lanka's medical care and education.

Maithripala Sirisena, the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, delivers a speech at the completion ceremony of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Hospital. [Photo/Yantai municipal bureau of commerce WeChat account]

President Sirisena expressed his appreciation of the Chinese contractors. He hoped the project will be an opportunity to actively engage in China's Belt and Road Initiative, forge ahead for better cooperation for the benefit of the two peoples and elevate bilateral relations to a new high.

Covering a total floor area of about 126,000 square meters, the KDU Hospital is equipped with modern facilities for patient treatment and training of bachelors of medicine and surgery and allied health sciences undergraduates.

The hospital has 814 beds and twenty operation theatres. Its intensive care unit is a vast 70 bed unit featuring individual wards for patients. It will be opened to the public soon.

Founded in 1952, the Yanjian Group is a large comprehensive company integrating engineering contracting at home and abroad, real estate development, capital management and commercial trade.

The completion ceremony of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Hospital is celebrated in grand style in Ratmalana, a suburb in Colombo of Sri Lanka. [Photo/Yantai municipal bureau of commerce WeChat account]