Mr. Wang Yi, State Councillor and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China, arrived in Ethiopia for an official visit on Thursday (January 3). During his visit, Mr. Wang Yi held separate talks with Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, and with Foreign Minister Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, on bilateral, regional and international matters.The State Councillor and Foreign Minister also paid a courtesy call on President Sahle-Work Zewde, as well as visiting AU Headquarters.
During the meeting with the Prime Minister, both sides underlined the importance of the time-tested relations between the two countries. Acknowledging China’s immense contribution to Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy highlighted the importance of the strengthened relationship capitalizing on new forms of technology in addition to continuing support for infrastructure development. Mr. Wang Yi appreciated the successful reform initiatives that have been undertaken over the past few months in Ethiopia. He emphasized that Ethiopia was on the right path and stressed that China remained committed to supporting their relationship, noting that it was also determined to develop new dimensions to it.
Dr. Workneh recalled the State Councillor’s earlier visit to Ethiopia in 2017 and welcomed him on this first leg of this visit to Africa in the first week of 2019. They exchanged views on a number of issues. Dr. Workneh, expressing Ethiopia’s desire to further strengthen its Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership with China, emphasized the government’s wish for China’s continued and increased involvement in the privatization process of major enterprises in Ethiopia. He also requested the Chinese government to encourage companies to participate in investment of priority sectors through such modalities as Public Private Partnerships (PPP). The Minister referred to the launch of the eight principles by President Xi during the recent FOCAC Summit in Beijing, and China’s commitment in allocating US$60 billion to finance these initiatives. He expressed Ethiopia’s efforts to continue to be a beneficiary of the FOCAC outcome. He said Ethiopia looked forward to actively participating in the upcoming Belt and Road Forum to be held in Beijing later this year and emphasized the government’s strong interest to work together with China to facilitate the smooth operations of flagship projects of the Belt and Road Initiative including the Ethio-Djibouti Railway.
Mr. Wang Yi expressed his appreciation of the strong leadership and active role played by the Ethiopian Government in undertaking the wide spectrum of reform in the country, including securing peace in the region and the normalization of relations with Eritrea. He assured Dr. Workneh of China’s support to Ethiopia for a wide range of economic and technical cooperation and reiterated that Ethiopia was seen as a show case for China-Africa Cooperation. He reaffirmed China’s readiness to provide support for the operationalization of the Ethio-Djibouti railway. He said China would also encourage Chinese companies to invest in Ethiopia and was ready to import soya beans and other agricultural products.
Mr. Wang Yi and Dr. Workneh also exchanged views on regional and international issues, focusing on normalization efforts with Eritrea and regional integration. They discussed collaboration between their two countries during Ethiopia’s Non-Permanent membership of the UN Security Council which ended last month and the reform of the UN Security Council. They concluded their official meeting with a joint press conference.
State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also paid a courtesy call on President Sahle-Work Zewde, President of Ethiopia. President Sahle-Work, remembering her participation in the first China Africa Forum two decades ago, said she was delighted by the widening both the scope of FOCAC and the elevation of Ethio-China relations to greater heights. She welcomed China’s support in the international arena and expressed her hope that the two countries would continue to work together for a strong multilateral system. While congratulating the President on the assumption of her duties, the State Councillor expressed his government’s commitment to support Ethiopia’s reforms and to remain to be a long-term and reliable partner to Ethiopia. He expressed his admiration for the understanding of global issues by Ethiopian leaders and the country’s positive role in regional and international affairs.
During his visit to the AU Headquarters on Friday (January 4) Mr, Wang Yi held talks with African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, on the progress made since the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing summit last year. They also discussed bilateral issues before a meeting of officials from the AU Commission with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Wang Yi then participated in the initiation of the Integrated Service Center Project for the AU, which the Government of China has agreed to finance, design, construct and equip.
