China pushes modernization to get a chance to 'get closer' to Ethiopia

On August 24, Chinese President Xi Jinping affirmed that Beijing is currently promoting modernization with high-quality development, aiming at new cooperation opportunities with Ethiopia.

Lãnh đạo Trung Quốc, Ethiopia hội đàm bên lề Hội nghị thượng đỉnh BRICS

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (left) during a meeting on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 24.

President Xi Jinping met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa on August 24. During the meeting, Xi stressed that China is a trustworthy friend and true partner of Ethiopia.

According to the Chinese leader, the two countries have maintained frequent high-level exchanges and contacts in recent years, thereby achieving results within the framework of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation as well as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

President Xi Jinping also made it clear that China attaches great importance to its relationship with Ethiopia and supports its peace and development process, and is willing to promote bilateral relations and expand comprehensive cooperation, so that the China-Ethiopia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership can further progress.

Furthermore, Xi Jinping said that the two sides should continue to firmly support each other on issues related to their core interests and major concerns, as well as enhance the synergy between the China-proposed BRI Initiative and Ethiopia's 10-Year Vision Development Plan (2021-2030), and accelerate the development of joint projects including the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway and green development.

For his part, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that the friendship between Ethiopia and China is very deep and the relationship between the two countries is on a good development track, and highly appreciated China's valuable support for the country over a long period of time.

According to Mr. Ahmed, thanks to the help and cooperation from China, Ethiopia has achieved remarkable development and transformation in recent years. In addition, the Ethiopian Prime Minister also said that the two countries have similar experiences and views on many major issues.

At the same time, Prime Minister Ahmed affirmed that Ethiopia highly values its friendship with China, firmly upholds the “One China” policy, supports the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and actively participates in cooperation within the BRI framework.

In addition, the head of Ethiopia also expressed his country's wish to soon join BRICS, in order to promote closer cooperation with Beijing in multilateral mechanisms and open up a better common future for the two countries.

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