"When it's completed, travel between Colombo and Hambantota will be shortened from four and a half hours to around two," said Jia Ruihua, deputy general manager of CSCEC's Sri Lanka branch.

Section 3, a 15-km part extending from Wetiya to Andarawewa will be first put into use in December and will be a two-way four-lane expressway, with a design speed of 120 km per hour.

A road co-built by Chinese and Sri Lankan workers

The extended highway has helped create 15,000 job opportunities for local people since 2016, according to CSCEC. It has diversified job choices in areas along the project where people largely rely on farming and growing fruit.

According to Jia, of the 1,900 employees at his company, more than 1,500 are locals, including 125 in management and 1,300 workers. "The proportion of Chinese and Sri Lankan employees is 1 to 4," Jia said.