China's support to Africa critical: Ethiopian minister

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 14, 2003

China's support to Africa critical: Ethiopian minister

Ethiopian State Minister of Trade and Industry Taddese Haile said on Saturday that China's support will be critical in ensuring a set of outcomes that favor African sustainable development.

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Ethiopian State Minister of Trade and Industry Taddese Haile said on Saturday that China's support will be critical in ensuring a set of outcomes that favor African sustainable development.

"China's cooperation with Africa particularly in some critical areas can make a real difference in assisting African countries intheir earnest fight for transforming their political and socio-economic development, " Taddese said in his opening statement at the third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum held in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia.

African countries, he said, are determined more than any time before to extricate the continent from the malaise of underdevelopment and marginalization in the contemporary trend of economic globalization.

However, he said, their development endeavors cannot be wholly successful without the support and cooperation of their partners.

"It is due to this prime fact that we consider China as our vital and strategic partner," he said, adding that "Since China isan emerging economy, we have a lot to learn from its ample experiences."

Taddese commended the Chinese government for the fulfillment ofits commitment to relieve heavily indebted poorer countries of Africa from their debts within the framework of this partnership.

"It is our believe that this measure will significantly contribute to alleviating Africa's debt burdens, which has been one of the major impediments to its development, and enable those countries to shift their meager resources to other areas of socio-economic endeavors," he said.

The SOM was intended to make preparations for the second ministerial meeting of the forum, scheduled for Addis Ababa on Dec.15-16.

During the SOM, senior officials from China and African countries are slated to discuss and adopt the draft agenda for thesecond ministerial meeting and the report of the SOM.

It is the first time that a ministerial meeting of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum is held on the African continent, to be hosted jointly by China and Ethiopia. The first ministerial meeting of the forum was held in Beijing in 2000.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and more than 10 of other African heads of state or government are expected to attend and address the opening ceremonyof the ministerial meeting.

The China-Africa Cooperation Forum, a collective consultation and dialogue mechanism between China and African countries, is thefirst of its kind in the history of Sino-African relationship.

It is a major and future-oriented move taken by both sides in the context of South-South cooperation to seek common development in the new situation.

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