ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia and China have deliberated on ways to elevate their overall relations to new height.

This came on Jan 28 when Zhang Ming, Deputy Foreign Minister of China, met and held talks with Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn in Addis Ababa, capital of the country.

Reiterating that the recently held Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has been successful, the vice foreign minister stated that China would work closely with Ethiopia to the implementation of the decisions made at the summit.

“China and Ethiopia will work closely with each other to implement the outcomes of the summit as soon as possible under the framework of the summit outcomes,” he noted.

When asked about coordination measures in Africa on the outcomes of the summit, Berhane Gebre-Christos, Special Envoy of the Ethiopian Prime Minister told reporters, “We, in Africa, are extremely happy with the summit. China’s commitment to Africa has been demonstrated highly. China has taken ten major issues to be worked out in Africa. And it has allocated billions of dollars to its implementation as well,” Berhane said.

He added Africa is eagerly working to the implementation of these plans, on the part of Ethiopia, he stated that the country is trying to make full harmonization of its own development plans and the plans made at the summit.

The two countries have also deliberated on the development of human resources, for which China is keen to provide the necessary assistance to Ethiopia, Chinese vice foreign minister said.

Stating that the Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (AA-LRT) project has been successful, Zhang expressed hope that the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway would inject a great impetus into the development of Ethiopia when it is completed in six months.

“Prime Minister Hailemariam and I also reviewed the progress made in our cooperation projects; not long ago I myself rode on the light railway in Addis Ababa and I find that it is very convenient and exchanged ideas with the passengers and they told me that the train has facilitated their lives,” he said.

With regard to the priority areas for the economic cooperation between Ethiopia and China, Berhane said infrastructure and industrialization are on top of the agenda.

“Accordingly, China has committed itself to work on the industrialization of the continent as well,” he said, “So in Ethiopia, we have been working very hard to utilize this programme and we have been putting in place industrial zones, industrial parks, and industrial corridors as well,” the envoy stated.

He added the discussion between Ethiopian prime minister and Chinese deputy foreign minister was an excellent one which charts the way for deepened cooperation between China and Ethiopia as well as China and Africa as a whole.