Demeke Mekonnnen, Deputy prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia welcomed the People’s Republic of China’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Zhao Zhiyuan.
The two have held a fruitful discussion on some principal issues, notably on the COVID19 pandemic, the GERD, and the latest developments in Tigray.
Demeke appreciated the Chinese government and companies, including the Jack Ma Foundation, for their valuable support to Ethiopia in fighting the global scourge.
He also expressed hope that China’s considerations of debt suspensions/reliefs to some of Ethiopia’s projects would continue to help Ethiopia mitigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic.
The Deputy Prime Minister also applauded China’s principled stance on the issue of the GERD talks which echos the principle of “African solutions to African problems.”
In briefing the recent developments in Tigray, Mr. Demeke assured the ambassador that the government has maintained rule of law in the region while continuing to jointly work with international agencies in providing humanitarian assistance and other relief measures to affected people.
With the capture and neutralization of the TPLF leaders, normalcy is returning to the region, Demeke added.
Ambassador Zhao Zhiyuan, on his part, reiterated his government’s gratitude to Ethiopia’s standing shoulder to shoulder with China in the difficult times of the COVID-19.
He also thanked the Deputy prime minister for the briefings on pivotal issues of the country and vowed to scale up the already strong relationship that exists between the two countries.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, the meeting ended following Demeke’s reiteration of Ethiopia’s commitment to helping him spend a fruitful time in Ethiopia and gratitude to the COVID-19 protective materials donated to the ministry by the government of China.