Sri Lanka, July 16 -- What with last year's Easter Sunday terrorist attacks scaring away tourists and then the coronavirus pandemic disrupting travel all across the world, Sri Lanka's economy has taken a battering recently - leaving it turning to powerful neighbours such as China for help.

The South Asian nation's economy grew 2.3 per cent in 2019, but this year it is forecast to shrink by as much as 3 per cent, prompting the government in Colombo to ask Beijing for a US$ 500 million loan from the state-owned China Development Bank in March, with a further US$ 128.6 million in "coronavirus support" being approved by the World Bank in April.

Sri Lanka's appeals to India for help, meanwhile, seem to have been met with a cooler response, e...