Ethio-China relation has achieved remarkable progress: envoy

The bilateral relation between Ethiopia and China has been achieving remarkable progress since the two nations forged diplomatic ties 45 years back, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia La Yifan said Monday.

The ambassador made the remarks during a press conference organized at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, in connection with the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Ethiopia and China.

Recalling that the then Emperor Haileselassie I of Ethiopia made a state visit to China one year after the establishment of diplomatic relation between the two countries, the ambassador said the overall relations between Ethiopia and China have made significant progress over the past decades.

The ambassador stated that Ethiopia and China have made exchanges of high level visits between them that aims at further strengthening relations and deepening cooperation in different areas.

During his recent visit to China, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn met and held fruitful discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, whereby they deliberated on ways of developing economy, addressing poverty, and also achieving the goal of modernization, said the ambassador.

"In the area of business-to-business cooperation, even though our relation dates back 45 years ago, but the Chinese business community is the later comer. And mainly they have come to Ethiopia to engage in business activities and contracts in the last 15 or 20 years," he said, "But, in this short period of 20 years; you can see the full print of Chinese businesses everywhere; not only in the capital city but also down to the countrysides."

He stated that the Chinese have undertaken different mega projects in roads, railway, and wind farm projects.

Jointly with their Ethiopian counterparts, the Chinese have carried out various developmental projects that have huge contribution to the socio-economic development in Ethiopia, thereby further strengthening the cooperation and friendship between the two countries.

"They (the Chinese) have undertaken to build the first light rail not only in Ethiopia, but in the whole continent. They have also underway the first expressway, the first wind-farm, and also the first modern standard, electrified railway linking Addis to Djibouti," he said.

Ambassador La has also noted that the people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have also growing from time to time in the areas of culture, education, and sport among others. Endit