Premier hails potential of Ethiopia ties

Premier Li Qiang and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held talks in Beijing on Thursday, vowing to deepen China-Ethiopia cooperation in various fields.

China and Ethiopia are all-weather strategic partners, Li said, adding that both countries are major developing countries and BRICS members that enjoy a profound foundation, huge potential and promising prospects for cooperation.

China hopes to work with Ethiopia to implement the important common understandings between their leaders by consolidating mutual political trust, deepening their friendship and expanding cooperation, Li said.

He also said China stands ready for continued mutual assistance and support with Ethiopia, so that the two countries will enjoy shared growth.

Li called on the two countries to further align their development strategies, expand trade and investment and conduct cooperation in emerging industries such as new energy, the digital economy and artificial intelligence.

China is the largest trading partner, the top investment source and the largest project contractor for Ethiopia, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Bilateral trade rose 14.7 percent last year to more than $3 billion.

China is willing to import more high-quality products from Ethiopia, Li said, adding that it is also encouraging more Chinese companies to invest in the African country.

China hopes to work with Ethiopia to promote the implementation of the outcomes of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, leverage the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway and make good use of China-Africa cooperation platforms, he said.

Ethiopia became a BRICS member in January.

Abiy, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to attend the summit and pay an official visit to China, expressed his congratulations on the success of the summit, saying that the 10 partnership actions for modernization put forward by President Xi Jinping are fully in line with Africa's vision for development.

Ethiopia hopes to promote the implementation of the summit's outcomes, learn from China's reform and opening-up experience and further expand trade between Africa and China, Abiy said.

After their talks, Li and Abiy witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents covering areas including the Belt and Road Initiative, trade, the export of agricultural products to China, space technology and geoscience.