ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and visiting Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi pledged here on March 20 to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

During his meeting with the Ethiopian prime minister, Yang described Ethiopia as China’s important cooperative partner in Africa.

China and Ethiopia have always supported each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns, firmly maintaining the common interests of the two countries and developing countries as a whole, Yang said.

Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome (R) shakes hands with visiting Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi during their meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 20, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

China stands ready to work with Ethiopia to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held in Johannesburg, Yang said.

Yang added that China is willing to work with Ethiopia to deepen mutual political trust in an all-around way, actively promote mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields and intensify the two countries’ coordination and collaboration on international and regional affairs.

Yang expressed hope that a healthier Sino-Ethiopian relationship that enjoys faster development will serve as a fine model of Sino-African cooperation and South-South cooperation.

For his part, Hailemariam spoke highly of China’s important status in international affairs, expressing appreciation that China has for a long time provided support and assistance for Ethiopia’s development.

As a leading African country that has participated in industrial capacity cooperation with China, Ethiopia welcomes more Chinese companies to come to Ethiopia to make investment and open businesses so that Ethiopia and China will achieve mutually beneficial results, said Hailemariam.

On March 20, Yang also met with Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome. Both the Chinese State Councilor and the Ethiopian President spoke highly of the achievement made by China and Ethiopia through mutually beneficial cooperation.

Exchanging views on the situation in Africa and Sino-African relations, Yang and Mulatu agreed that the overall situation in Africa is favorable and getting better and there is a broad prospect for future development.

They also agreed that China and Africa should deepen their mutually beneficial cooperation and actively implement the outcomes of the FOCAC summit held in Johannesburg so as to bring more benefits to the peoples of China and Africa.