Upgrade of China-Ethiopia relationship milestone in history: envoy

ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The upgrade of the China-Ethiopia bilateral relationship is surely a milestone in history, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan said here on Monday.

Addressing a press briefing on Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's visit to China and the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Zhao underscored the importance of the recent establishment of the all-weather strategic partnership between the two countries.

"We should keep this momentum and promote our relations to be deeper and more solid. Our Chinese embassy always stands ready," he said, adding the two sides should be friends for common development and win-win cooperation and partners in promoting South-South solidarity and cooperation and safeguarding international fairness and justice.

Noting that the high-level exchanges and political mutual trust between the two countries have been strengthened, Zhao said that the two sides emphasized the need to continue to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, and firmly support each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns.

He said that China is determined to work with Ethiopia to strengthen cooperation in various fields under such frameworks as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and that the China-Ethiopia relationship should stand as an example of China-Africa relations.

China will support and participate in Ethiopia's post-war reconstruction and economic revitalization, strengthen cooperation in green development, and implement the Global Development Initiative, to boost Ethiopia's development effort, Zhao said.