Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China is advancing Chinese modernization with its high-quality development, which will bring new opportunities to cooperation between China and Ethiopia, said Chinese President Xi Jinping here on Wednesday.

China is a reliable friend and a true partner of Ethiopia, Xi said in a meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit.

He noted that in recent years, the two countries have maintained frequent high-level exchanges and communication, and have yielded results within the frameworks of the Belt and Road cooperation and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

China attaches great importance to its relations with Ethiopia and supports its domestic peace process, development and revitalization, he said, adding that China stands ready to work with Ethiopia to promote bilateral exchanges and to expand all-round cooperation, so that bilateral friendship can enjoy greater popular support and the China-Ethiopia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership can witness further advancement.

Xi stressed that both sides need to continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning their core interests and major concerns, adding that the two countries should strengthen the synergy between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Ethiopia's Ten Years Perspective Development Plan (2021-2030), and accelerate the development of joint projects including Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway and green development.

China encourages more Chinese enterprises to invest and start their businesses in Ethiopia, welcoming the use by Ethiopia of the "green channel" for the entry of African agricultural products to China to expand bilateral economic and trade cooperation, said Xi.

China stands ready to work with Ethiopia in promoting the implementation of the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa and to make contributions to regional peace and stability, said Xi.

The friendship between Ethiopia and China is profound and the relations between the two countries have maintained good development momentum, said Ahmed, extending his sincere appreciation for the massive valuable support China has offered for a long time.

Thanks to the help from and cooperation with China, Ethiopia has achieved significant development and transformations in recent years, said the Ethiopian Prime Minister, noting that the two countries share similar experiences and have common stands on many major issues.

Ahmed said Ethiopia highly values its friendship with China, firmly upholds the one-China policy, supports the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by Xi, and actively participates in the Belt and Road cooperation.

Ethiopia stands ready to learn from China's governance experience to better achieve its own national development, and is willing to deepen cooperation with China in agriculture, mining and other fields, he said.

Ethiopia hopes to join the BRICS so as to push for closer cooperation in multilateral mechanisms and open up a better shared future for the two countries. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)