Colombo Port City: A new Dubai or a Chinese enclave?

"An economic game changer" is how officials describe Colombo Port City, a shiny metropolis soaring out of the water along the Sri Lankan capital's seafront. Next to Colombo's leafy business district, the huge expanse of sand reclaimed from the sea is being transformed into a high-tech city which will host an offshore international financial centre, residential areas and a marina - prompting comparisons with Dubai, Monaco or Hong Kong.

"This reclaimed land gives Sri Lanka a chance to redraw the map and to build a city of world class proportions and functionality - and compete with Dubai or Singapore," Saliya Wickramasuriya, a member of the Colombo Port City Economic Commission, told the BBC.

But critics question how much of an economic game changer it will really be for Sri Lanka. For a start, in order to reclaim the 665 acres (2.6 sq km) of new land, the country needed the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to invest $1.4bn. In return, the firm has been given 43% of it on a 99-year lease.

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