New Chinese Envoy Vows to Heighten Cooperation with Ethiopia

Addis Ababa November 11/2020 (ENA) Newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Zhao Zhiyuan on Wednesday affirmed that he will strive to heighten cooperation between the two friendly countries.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Redwan Hussein today received credentials from the new envoy of Chinese ambassador to at his office in Addis Ababa.

The new Chinese envoy, Zhao Zhiyuan said he will work to further expand the existing strategic partnership between Ethiopia and China.

Noting Ethiopia and China will mark the 50^th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, he assured that his focus will be promotion of trade and investment between Addis Ababa and Beijing.

Ambassador Zhao said he is delighted to serve his country as an envoy to Ethiopia, where the Chinese Government attaches great importance to its relations for historical, economic, and strategic reasons.

During the occasion, the two sides have discussed on wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues of common interests.

They have reiterated the importance of further expanding the extensive economic activities that the Chinese Government and private companies are currently engaging in Ethiopia.

Ambassador Redwan appreciated China’s critical support to Ethiopia in fighting COVID-19, while the Chinese ambassador thanked Ethiopia for standing shoulder to shoulder with China in its fight against the global scourge.

Talking about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the two have agreed that contentious issues should only be solved through dialogue and mutual understanding among the negotiating parties.

Ambassador Redwan commended China for understanding Ethiopia’s stance not to internationalize the undergoing operation in Tigray Regional State as the issue is a domestic affair of Ethiopia.

The Chinese ambassador reaffirmed that China understands external power involvement in the Ethiopian government operation in Tigray is unnecessary since Ethiopia is capable of solving its own problems.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two have also talked about ways that Ethiopian Airlines could resume its temporarily suspended flights to China.