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A view of the webinar. / Photo courtesy of CPAFFC
A view of the webinar. / Photo courtesy of CPAFFC
The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the Ethiopian Embassy in China jointly held an online academic seminar on Monday to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Ethiopia.
The meeting was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Demeke Mekonnen, the Minister of Finance and Economy of Ethiopia, Ahmed Sid, the Ambassador of Ethiopia in China, Teshome Toga, the president of the Chinese People’s Association for the Friendship with Foreign Countries, Lin Songtian, and the Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia. Zhao Zhiyuan.
Representatives of the academic and business communities of the two countries also attended the meeting.
In the last decade, Ethiopia’s economy achieved double-digit annual growth, moving from a poverty-stricken agricultural country to one of the African countries with the fastest economic growth, vitality and potential for development.
Since the establishment of the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000, under the impetus of the two countries’ key roles, Egypt-China relations have developed by leaps and bounds in the spheres of economics, politics, security and technology transfer. , academia and capacity development.
Participants of the online academic seminar. / Photo courtesy of CPAFFC
Participants of the online academic seminar. / Photo courtesy of CPAFFC
The two parties agreed to enhance the relationship between them to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in 2017, thereby further strengthening the already close partnership.
As an active participant in the China Belt and Road Initiative, Ethiopia’s cooperation with China has improved the country’s infrastructure and strengthened its industrial facilities.
Ethiopian representatives praised the bilateral relations between China and Ethiopia, claiming that they are paradigms of mutually beneficial cooperation and common development.
They considered that the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Africa Cooperation Forum have formed the prerequisite and foundation for Ethiopia’s infrastructure construction, industrial transformation and upgrading, global market connectivity and rapid economic development. , which makes it possible for Ethiopia to achieve rapid development.
“Ethiopia looks forward to advancing the comprehensive strategic partnership with China, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation and establishing a role model for China-Africa cooperation and South-South cooperation,” said the representatives.
CPAFFC President Lin Songtian speaks at the webinar. / Photo courtesy of CPAFFC
CPAFFC President Lin Songtian speaks at the webinar. / Photo courtesy of CPAFFC
CPAFFC President Lin Songtian said Ethiopia is a consistent partner of the Belt and Road Initiative and a demonstration pilot country for China-Africa cooperation in production capacity. China has always been Ethiopia’s most important partner for independent and sustainable development.
Lin said that China is ready to shape a new development pattern that takes national development as the mainstay, and national and international development are mutually reinforcing.
“It is committed to greater openness and high-quality development, which will provide a great new opportunity for China, Ethiopia and Africa to carry out friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields,” Lin said.
Both sides maintained that China had taken the initiative to control the epidemic and resume work and production, injecting strong confidence in the rest of the world to overcome contagion and restore the economy. It also provides an inexhaustible impetus for long-term China-Ethiopia cooperation.
China remained Ethiopia’s largest source of foreign direct investment in 2019, accounting for about 60 percent of recently approved foreign projects in East African countries, according to the 2020 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Report.
