Xi meets Ethiopian PM on bilateral cooperation

Chinese PresidentXi Jinping(R) meets with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in Beijing, capital of China, June 14, 2013. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing on Friday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on advancing bilateral cooperation.

Xi said the development of bilateral relations offers a great opportunity as the two countries are both at a crucial period of nation building and have a similar governing philosophy.

He said the two sides should enhance political guidance and overall planning of their relations, maintain high-level exchanges and deepen exchanges of state governance experiences.

He also called on the two countries to upgrade and strengthen cooperation in major areas.

The president congratulated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity, adding that China supports the self reliance of the continent's countries.

China believes the international community should enhance cooperation with Africa, in a bid to promote the continent's development and achieve common prosperity, he said.

The international community should fully respect African countries' development path and forge a partnership with the continent based on equality, mutual benefit, cooperation and win-win, said the president.

China will continue to call on relevant parties to respect Africa's aspiration for independent development and fulfill their commitments to Africa, in order to help the continent achieve greater development, he said.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is an effective mechanism, he said, noting that China is willing to work with Ethiopia to enhance the building of the forum.

China supports Ethiopia to join the World Trade Organization, Xi added.

Desalegn congratulated Xi on the successful launch of the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft.

China's development has brought opportunity for developing countries, he said, noting that Ethiopia is committed to achieving national modernization and hopes to learn from the Asian nation.

He suggested that the two countries should enhance cooperation in the areas of infrastructure building, energy and resource exploitation, manufacturing and human resources.

Ethiopia is willing to beef up coordination with China on UN affairs and climate change issues, he said.

Desalegn also praised China's African policy.

He said Africa hopes to enhance the comprehensive partnership with China through the mechanism of the FOCAC, so as to realize common development.

Ethiopia will continue to make contributions in developing Africa-China relations, he said.

Also on Friday, Desalegn met with Chinese top legislator Zhang Dejiang, voicing his commitment to stepping up friendship and cooperation between Ethiopia and China.

The Ethiopian parliament hopes to strengthen its exchange and cooperation with the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislative organ, he added.

Zhang, NPC Standing Committee chairman, echoed Desalegn's call on promoting inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two nations. He proposed the two parliaments intensify their exchanges concerning legislation and supervision, and improve legal systems to help boost strategic national development and cooperation.