A road to prosperity

Located in Hambantota, Sri Lanka's Southern Province, G.H. Gunarathne fills his mini truck with agricultural products, including bananas, pumpkins and eggplants. He said that he could sell fruit and vegetables to Colombo (capital of Sri Lanka) in a day thanks to the expressway, which has dramatically changed his life.

The expressway refers to the Extension of the Southern Expressway Project, which was put into construction by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in 2016. It is the first E-class and longest expressway in Sri Lanka.

Indunil Lakshan, G.H. Gunarathne's son, joined the CSCEC in Sri Lanka six years ago and has worked on the project. Two years later, he took out a loan to buy a mini truck for his father, improving both of their lives.

Gunarathne's family is one of the households who have benefitted from the project. The village has more than 240 households, with a quarter of them having worked on the project. In less than two years, many of them built new houses, bought motorcycles and other vehicles.

Cheng Huaqiang, deputy general manager of the CSCEC in Sri Lanka, said that over 20,000 jobs have been created through the project. The first construction skills and safety training base has been established, training a large number of professional and technical personnel, which have now become an important part of infrastructure construction in Sri Lanka.

As a key project of the Belt and Road Initiative, it has improved local traffic conditions, boosted the regional economy and improved people's livelihoods.

The Extension of the Southern Expressway was opened to the public in 2020, and local residents call it the "road to prosperity".