Chinese, Ethiopian FMs meet on bilateral issues

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu (R) meets with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Addis Ababa, June 21, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

ADDIS ABABA - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with his Ethiopian counterpart, Workneh Gebeyehu, on bilateral relations on Wednesday.

Wang noted that China and Ethiopia upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation in May when Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was in China for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

The advancement reflected the high level of bilateral relations and charted the future course for China-Ethiopian relations, the Chinese foreign minister said.

Practical cooperation between China and Ethiopia is at the front of China-African mutually beneficial cooperation and has made significant achievements, he added.

China is ready to implement the consensus between Chinese and Ethiopian leaders, hold fast to the idea of joint construction of the "Belt and Road", give full play to the exemplary role of China-Africa cooperation in industry capacity, and implement the "10 major China-Africa cooperation plans", to strengthen political mutual support and deepen practical cooperation in various fields, he said.

China also stands ready to build an economic corridor along the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway and expand cooperation with Ethiopia in human resource development and strengthen communication and coordination on global and regional affairs, so as to inject new content to their comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation, he said.

The Ethiopian foreign minister said Ethiopia-China relations are very important and of strategic significance.

The Belt and Road Initiative Forum for International Cooperation has provided an important opportunity for the expansion of cooperation in all fields between Ethiopia and China, and Africa and China, said Workneh.

Workneh said his country thanks China for its strong support and assistance to Ethiopia's efforts to realizing economic transformation.

Ethiopia is willing to join efforts with China to expand mutually beneficial cooperation in such areas as economy, security, infrastructure, human resources and aviation, he said.