Sri Lanka Selects Chinese Firm to Develop New Container Port

A Chinese laborer works at a construction site on reclaimed land, part of a Chinese-funded project for Port City, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 24, 2020. Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images

Sri Lanka has selected a Chinese firm to construct the second phase of the Colombo Port’s East Container Terminal (ECT), a move that’s likely to alarm other Asian powers, given Beijing’s maritime Silk Road ambitions.

In a Cabinet decision on Nov. 23, Beijing-based China Harbour Engineering Co. (CHEC) was approved by Colombo to develop the strategic port terminal.