Some Western countries are defaming China to contain its development over their fear of losing dominant positions in world affairs, said Weerasinghe Geeganage, general secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka.

For a long time, mainstream Western media has been distorting the image of China and smearing it, because some countries are anxious over losing their "unchallenged leadership" as they are facing increasing challenges from China, Weerasinghe said ahead of the virtual World Symposium for Marxist Political Parties on Thursday.

"They are declining and don't to want to see China become the leader of the world," he said.

Weerasinghe cited the so-called "debt trap" of Sri Lanka, which, according to some Western media, is due to loans from China as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"They are spreading this kind of lie. In fact, the debt of Sri Lanka related to China accounts for only 10 percent of its total, and the other 90 percent of the debt is from other sources," said Weerasinghe.

"Still, they (some Western nations) keep trying to convince us that Sri Lanka is in a ‘debt trap' due to China because that allows them to contain China," he said.

He said the Belt and Road Initiative has won wide support from people around the world, and has benefited significantly countries involved in it through strengthening interconnectivity and promoting trade and investment.

More and more countries are realizing the importance of international collaboration and the BRI, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic underlines the urgency for all countries to work together in response to global issues, he said.

Weerasinghe also lauded China's contributions made to advancing world's communist movement.

He said the world's communist movement encountered setbacks at the latter half of the 20th century, especially with the collapse of the former Soviet Union.

But since the late 1970s, by introducing the reform and opening-up policy, China has continued its socialist revolution, said Weerasinghe, adding that today, after years of development, it has bid farewell to absolute poverty and grown into the second-largest economy in the world, which proved the correctness of the path China has chosen.

"China has developed and innovated Marxism, and with its achievements made over the past century, the Chinese Communist Party has contributed enormously to the development of Marxism," said Weerasinghe.