The Sri Lanka-China Buddhist Friendship Association is scheduled to celebrate its 10th anniversary today (29), marking more than a millennium of religious ties between the two nations.The association, founded on 27 August 2015 in Kandy in the presence of leading prelates of the Siyam and Amarapura Nikayas and senior Chinese monks, has worked extensively to promote Buddhist exchange between the two countries.

Its landmark initiatives include coordinating Chinese Buddhist support during Sri Lanka’s recent economic crisis, when donations worth over one million US dollars were mobilised under the “Faxian Charity Project” and distributed across the island. In 2018, the Association also facilitated the installation of a bronze statue of the Chinese monk Faxian, who studied for two years at Abhayagiriya some 1,600 years ago at the Abhayagiri Vihara in Anuradhapura. The unveiling was led by Chinese Buddhist leaders including Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China, Ven. Ming Sheng.

Sri Lanka’s Buddhist links with China predate Faxian’s own travels between AD 409–411. Historical records indicate that in AD 406 a monk named Dharmma was dispatched from Sri Lanka to the Chinese court, presenting the Chinese emperor with a jade Buddha image, regarded as one of the earliest diplomatic and religious exchanges between the two countries.

The association is presently chaired by Ajith Dharmawardana, under whose leadership its activities have intensified.

As part of its 10th anniversary commemorations, a lecture series on Sri Lanka-China relations will be held at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute in Colombo on 29 August at 3.30 p.m. Patron of the Association, Prof. Praneeth Abhayasundara, will preside. Dr. Ajith Amarasinghe, author of Ming-Kotte War, will deliver the keynote address, while Ven. Dr. Kallanchiye Rathanasiri thero, Chief Incumbent of the Abhayagiriya Raja Maha Viharaya, will deliver a special lecture on Buddhist ties during the Anuradhapura era.