CRI launches radio channel in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, July 2 (Xinhua) - China Radio International (CRI) held a ceremony here on Friday to celebrate the launch of a radio channel in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dissanayake Jayaratne told the ceremony that China and Sri Lanka have been enjoying traditional friendship. Jayaratne said in the era of "Global Village", the launch of the radio channel will provide a new bridge for the two peoples to understand each other.

Wang Gengnian, director general of CRI, said Sri Lanka is among the countries where the CRI has the largest number of audience and receives most letters. "With the support of our friends in Sri Lanka and China, the Colombo FM channel will play an important role in promoting the bilateral relationship and the two countries' cooperation in broadcasting," said Wang.

Formally launched on April 23, the Colombo FM 102 channel broadcasts 19 hours of news and culture programmes in Sinhala, Tamil, English and Mandarin every day. The channel covers Western Province, the island's political, economic and business centre with an area of 3,700 sq km.

Founded in 1941, CRI aims at promoting understanding and friendship between the people of China and people throughout the world. CRI's programmes include news, current affairs, and features on politics, economy, culture, science and technology.

(Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1633 gmt 2 Jul 10 via BBC Monitoring)