CPAFFC President Lin Songtian meets Ethiopian ambassador

Huang Xiaowei

O n April 20， Lin Songtian， president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， met with Teshome Toga Chanaka， Ethiopia’s ambassador to China. Sun Xueqing， director-general of the CPAFFC’s department of Asian and African affairs， also attended the meeting.

Lin extended welcome to Teshome for visiting the association again， speaking highly of the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Ethiopia. It has developed into a model of China-Africa and SouthSouth friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation under the strategic guidance of the two countries’ leaders， he said.

Lin briefly recalled State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s proposal for an “initiative of peaceful development in the Horn of Africa”during his tour to Africa at the beginning of the year. Lin commended the Ethiopian government and people for their unremitting efforts in promoting national peace， dialogue， reconciliation， harmony and independent sustainable development， and he expressed China’s willingness to actively support regional countries in addressing the triple challenges of security， development and governance in an independent manner to achieve long-term peace and stability， development and prosperity.

Lin said， the crisis in Ukraine has severely disrupted global production and supply chains， as well as capital chains， and it has triggered a global food and energy crisis， stagflation and other economic and social problems. People around the world， including in Europe and the United States， are paying and will continue to pay a heavy price for this.

He said that less-developed countries in Africa， especially those dependent on food and energy imports， have been and will continue to be the innocent victims of the Cold War mentality of the US and the West， and will remain victims of the current world crisis.

“Only by upholding justice and calling for a ceasefire can the international community get out of its survival crisis，” he said.

Noting that Africa is rich in natural and human resources， Lin praised the continent as “the youngest， most dynamic and most promising continent” and one that “has been rising”. He said Africa enjoys broad prospects for China-Africa cooperation， adding that China has always kept its word and never made empty promises.

“We will fully implement the outcomes of the eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation and continue to help Africa overcome the three development bottlenecks of lagging infrastructure， insufficient human resources and lack of capital， so as to achieve independent and sustainable development，” Lin said.

Lin pledged that the CPAFFC will continue to give full play to the advantages of people-to-people diplomacy， actively promote friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between friendship provinces and cities of the two countries， constantly enrich the content of cooperation and encourage more Chinese private enterprises to invest in Ethiopia to support the country in building an industrial belt headed by the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway， so that the country can realize independent and sustainable development.

Teshome briefed his host about the current domestic situation in Ethiopia， saying that the Ethiopian government is committed to national reconciliation and dialogue. He said he appreciated China and believes it will actively push relevant parties to resolve problems through dialogue and consultation and provide more humanitarian assistance. Ethiopia highly appreciated China’s initiative for peaceful development in the Horn of Africa and expected that China would play a bigger role in regional peace， stability and development， he said.

Teshome spoke highly of relations between the two countries. He said China is Ethiopia’s most important development partner and thanked it for its long-term support for Ethiopia’s economic and social development. He said he wants his country to work with the CPAFFC to implement the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation， make good use of friendship cities to induce more Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in Ethiopia and help rebuild schools， medical and health infrastructure and support the country’s vocational education and training.

The two sides also candidly exchanged in-depth views on international and regional issues of common concern.