Sri Lanka, Oct. 19 -- China Merchants Port Holdings has pulled out of the proposed US$392 million South Asia Commercial and Logistics Hub (SACLH) project at the Port of Colombo, with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) agreeing to pay US$21.9 million as part of a settlement following the project's termination.

The Chinese port operator confirmed the cancellation in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on October 15, 2026.

The development was originally envisioned as one of South Asia's largest logistics complexes and was to be implemented under a 50-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement.

According to the filing, the decision to discontinue the project was driven by changes in external conditions, developments affecting the p...