China’s contemporary relations with both Sri Lanka and the Maldives have been described as ‘models of good relations between small and big countries’. China has been an important trading partner for Sri Lanka, with a large and growing trade surplus in China’s favour in the last few years. At the same time it has also been a significant source of investment and foreign economic assistance to Sri Lanka. Similarly, while China enjoys a large surplus in its trade with the Maldives as well, it is also a significant source of economic assistance and tourism for the Maldives. Given that India is in many ways the preeminent power in South Asia, China’s relations with Sri Lanka and the Maldives in the South Asian regional context have been analysed in terms of two ‘strategic triangles’: China–India–Sri Lanka and China–India–Maldives. What emerges from this analysis is that the sustenance of the cooperative momentum in the China-India relationship is crucial to the improvement of China’s relations with South Asia as a whole.
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