China-Africa Expo to Drive Economic Reform, Promote Industrialization

A high-level seminar on China-Africa cooperation is held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on May 18, 2023.  (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

The upcoming China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo will be an impetus for strengthening Ethiopia-China economic ties and advance the East African country's strive for industrialization, an Ethiopian official has said.

ADDIS ABABA, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo will be an impetus for strengthening Ethiopia-China economic ties and advance the East African country's strive for industrialization, an Ethiopian official has said.

Deputy Commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) Daniel Teressa said Ethiopia envisaged taking the expo as an opportunity to promote cooperation with China on investment, economy and trade, promising representatives from the Ethiopian government, business community leaders and representatives will use the opportunity to attract more Chinese investments.

The third edition of the expo, under the theme "Common Development for a Shared Future," will run from June 29 to July 2 in central China's Hunan Province. First launched in 2019, it is a major platform for strengthening economic and trade cooperation between China and African countries.

An exhibitor (R) introduces skincare products made in Africa during the second China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha, the capital of central China's Hunan Province, Sept. 27, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

"In the upcoming China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, our companies will have good engagement with Chinese companies and we will also encourage Chinese companies to come to invest in Ethiopia," Teressa said at a promotion event held Friday in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. "The Ethiopian Investment Commission and Ethiopian companies engaged in different economic sectors and businesses will be attending this expo."

Teressa said the Ethiopian delegation will use the expo to promote the ongoing economic reforms that aim to enhance the development of the private sector in the country and attract potential Chinese investors in this regard.

He said the expo, which will be held against the backdrop of global challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic and disruption of the global supply chain, will serve as an important platform to enhance investment and trade relations between China and Africa.

"Ethiopia's economy is majorly dependent on agricultural sectors and now we are working aggressively on transforming this agriculture-based economy into an industry-based and service-based economy," Teressa said. He also said the country welcomes Chinese investments in the private sector.

"The engagement that our domestic companies will have with Chinese companies (at the expo) will enhance this reform of privatization and opening up of different economic sectors," he added.

Senior Ethiopian officials, representatives of the country's business community, a Chinese delegation group as well as heads of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce attended the promotion event.

On the same day, the Chinese delegation presented investment policies and business opportunities to the Ethiopian side. Yang Yingjie, secretary-general of the Zhuzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the expo will be launched within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and will yield win-win results.