sri lanka china

President Mahinda Rajapakse inspects the newly constructed National Performance Theatre constructed in the old Colombo Municipal Council grounds at Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha in Colombo on 27 June 2011.The project costing over 3 billion rupees was largely funded by China. The five-storied modern theatre, built on a model similar to the Lotus Pond of Polonnaruwa, was constructed with the expertise from China. The main theatre has seating a capacity for 1,288 spectators and an open theater is on the top floor. The Chinese engineers carried out the construction screened a documentary to the President showing construction activities of the building from the inception. External Affairs Minister, Prof. G.L. Peiris, Cultural Affairs Minister P.B. Ekanayaka, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ms. Yang Xiuping, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, President`s Chief of Staff Gamini Senarath, and the Permanent Representative to the UN Palitha Kohona were also present at the occasion.