China to donate school uniform fabric to all Lankan students

The Chinese government would supply the fabric needed for school uniforms that are provided free of charge to all public-school students in Sri Lanka in 2025, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong said recently.

Speaking at an event to distribute scholarships at Keppetipola Maha Vidyalaya, Matale, Chinese Ambassador Qi noted that in 2023 and 2024, China donated 70% and 80% respectively of the required fabric for school uniforms for public school students nationwide.

Ambassador Qi stated that the 2025 donation will total 11.82 million meters of fabric, valued at approximately 5.2 billion rupees (around 18 million U.S. dollars).

The fabric is expected to arrive in Colombo in three shipments before the end of this year, he said.

In recent years, China has also awarded up to 1,000 scholarships annually to Sri Lankan students, the Ambassador said.

Following Sri Lanka’s economic crisis in 2022, China donated 10,000 tonnes of rice to the country, covering half a year’s lunch needs for 1.1 million students across 7,900 schools in Sri Lanka’s nine provinces, Qi said.

In recent weeks, China has provided about 30 million rupees (roughly 101,000 U.S. dollars) in emergency humanitarian aid, along with materials valued at 420 million rupees (about 1.5 million U.S. dollars) to assist over 100,000 affected individuals in overcoming challenges and rebuilding their homes, he said.