This was expressed by Ethiopian Ambassador to Beijing Tefera Derbew when she highlighted the history of relations between the two countries, which were based on friendly partnership rather than competition. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced this last Tuesday after a bilateral meeting in the Chinese capital.
Derbew recalled that only four nations in the world maintain a strategic partnership in all areas (economic, social, military and security) with the Asian giant. Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that has established strong relationships at this level.
He believed that this was a great opportunity for Addis Ababa, through the closeness of perspectives beyond economic, military and security cooperation, as well as people-to-people, institution-to-institution and company-to-company relationships, and that of trade with Goods and materials would be promoted.
The Ethiopian leader arrived in China on Monday to pay an official state visit and attend the third forum of the Belt and Road Initiative for International Cooperation.
During the bilateral meeting with Jinping, Ahmed noted the importance of Chinese investment in the African country’s economy and encouraged more investments in the five key pillars: agriculture, manufacturing, information and communications technologies, mining and tourism.
The Chinese President congratulated the Ethiopian Prime Minister on joining the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and praised the achievements of the Green Legacy Initiative in mitigating the effects of climate change, noting its alignment with China’s green development policy .
As part of the forum activities, which attracted representatives from more than 140 nations and 30 global organizations, the Ethiopia-China Investment Forum was held in Beijing and Shanghai to promote investment opportunities here.
The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) signed a memorandum of understanding with two Chinese pharmaceutical companies and an agricultural processing company interested in investing in the African country.
EIC Chief Commissioner Lelise Neme was accompanied by Finance Minister Ahmed Shide at the event, which was attended by more than 300 potential investors who discussed Addis Ababa’s investment potential in mining and other priority sectors.
Speaking on the topic, Deputy Head of the Ethiopian Embassy in China, Dewano Kedir, explained that the forum was organized to encourage more investors from the Asian country to take advantage of Ethiopia’s opportunities.
Kedir confirmed that a total of five Chinese companies have decided to come to Addis Ababa to make investments and hold discussions between Ethiopian delegates and company representatives. In short, the investment and business forum was effective and successful, he added.
After concluding the Third Belt and Road Forum, Ahmed continued his official working visit to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, one of the most famous in the world, to exchange experiences regarding the recent establishment of the African country’s Markets Authority of Capitals.
Also on the program was the Huawei Center, a company with numerous projects and investments in the African country, especially in the communications sector, which contributes to the implementation of the “Digital Ethiopia 2025” strategy.
Likewise, the Yangshan deep-water port, the largest automated container terminal in China and the world.
The day before, he visited the leafy city of Chengdu in China’s Sizchuan province, connecting with direct flights to that capital and commercial, educational and medical cooperation links. This city is the third largest after Beijing and Shanghai.
Ahmed toured the Tianfu New Area and Agricultural Exhibition Park as well as the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base. He also attended a luncheon hosted by Chinese Communist Party leaders in this province and discussions were held on possible areas to promote cooperation.
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