Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Thursday expressed his satisfaction with the development of Sino-Ethiopian relations, stressing that there exists a great potential in trade and economic relations between the two countries.
Meeting with a visiting Chinese delegation headed by Zhou Keren, vice-minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Meles said: "Ethiopia and China enjoy long-standing friendly cooperative relations and the two sides have conducted highly effective cooperation in economic, technical, medical and many other fields. "
He also expressed his appreciation of the efforts the Chinese government has made to help the construction of Ethiopia.
During its three-day working visit to Ethiopia beginning from Wednesday, the Chinese delegation signed a protocol with Ethiopia on the remission of partial matured debt.
Zhou said at the meeting that to remit part of the due debt, owed by the poor African countries with heavy debt burden and the least developed countries, is a solemn commitment the Chinese government made at the China-Africa Cooperation Forum held in Beijing last year.
China has financed a number of development projects in Ethiopia including a ring road which is under construction in the capital. Some Chinese enterprises have also involved actively in Ethiopia's construction sector.
(Xinhua News Agency 06/22/2001)
