Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulates new Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Sri Lanka's new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake soon after he was sworn in on Monday.

Popularly known as AKD, 56-year-old Marxist leader Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka's ninth president by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. He defeated his closest rival Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) in Saturday's election.

Official media here reported that Xi, 71, congratulated Dissanayake, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party's broader front National People's Power (NPP), soon after his swearing-in.

Dissanayake is Sri Lanka’s first-ever Marxist party leader to become head of state. Last year he visited China and interacted with Chinese officials on bilateral ties.

China, besides India, is the largest lender to Sri Lanka and took over the Hambantota port on a 99-year lease as a debt swap.

In his inaugural address to the nation, President Dissanayake on Monday stressed that Sri Lanka cannot remain in isolation and needs international cooperation.

He said he is not a magician, but his objective is to be part of a collective responsibility to elevate the economic crisis-stricken country.