BY SOLOMON WASSIHUN
It is amazing how many beautiful sayings Ethiopians have about friendship. One of them roughly translates as: “The good thing about hard times is it removes doubts about who your true friends are.” The troubled times of the past two years have given Ethiopia yet another opportunity to know who are its all-weather friends. It turned out that China is among the top three on the very short list of Ethiopia’s time-tested friends.
In addition to continuing to maintain and upgrade its economic partnership with Ethiopia, China has taken an unwavering stance to stand beside Ethiopia in the face of the diplomatic and media war waged during the past two years. The solidarity China demonstrated along with other friendly nations has helped avert international sanctions and interventions plotted to violate Ethiopia’s interests and freedom as a sovereign nation.
Ethio- Chinese longstanding relations were not dictated by the ideologies of their respective governments which at times were highly contrasting. It may be a surprising fact that the diplomatic relation between China and Ethiopia was established in 1970 when the former was under the leadership of the communist party and the latter was under the pro-western absolute monarchy.
The risk of alienation by the West Emperor Haile -Selassie took in 1971 to travel all the way to China to have historical handshakes with Chairman Mao was not in vain. It has borne a lot of fruits cherished by the subsequent generations until today.
The Chinese did not forget the pivotal role 23 African countries including Ethiopia played in 1971 with the passing of the UN resolution No 2758, which allowed the People’s Republic of China, PRC, to return to the UN after more than two decades of absence. –A resolution that implied the fully-fledged international recognition of the Beijing government and its One China policy.
Since the inception of the Ethio-China ties, China has always been a loyal ally of Ethiopia regardless of who is in charge at Arat Kilo Palace. What is more, the level of the Ethio- China relations reached an all-time high, under the incumbent Ethiopian government over the last four years.
Ethiopia is now the most important African destination for Chinese investment. China has become Ethiopia’s closest development partner by way of providing various supports to accelerate economic development through provisions of finance and technical assistance. Records of the last year show that China has become the most important trading partner to Ethiopia, accounting for Ethiopia’s 18 percent total imports and 8 percent of its total exports.
In recent years, Ethiopian authorities and business leaders signed various partnership deals with Chinese companies to further intensify the trade relations between the two nations by exploiting the advantages of recent technologies and e-commerce. China has proved itself as a strong reliable alternative development partner to Ethiopia. When the Americans delist Ethiopia and some other African countries from AGOA, the Chinese initiated a new tax-free import initiative for African countries including Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is now among the top five destinations of Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa. In addition, Ethiopia is also among the top five African countries receiving development assistance in terms of concessional loans, zero-interest loans, grants, and also debt relief [cancelation].
Chinese development aid to Ethiopia provides critical support mainly for the development of the transport, power, ICT, and industry sectors. These sectors are pivotal in the rapid modernization of the rural population, which accounts for the majority of the Ethiopian population. Electrification and better access roads for rural communities would be translated to better access to a fair market for the product they produce, increased employment, and better access to social services which are major factors in bringing poverty reduction.
Similarly, Chinese infrastructure development aid in urban areas has advanced the transportation system and helped the effort to mitigate issues regarding urban and highway transportation. The construction of the Addis-Djibouti and the Addis Ababa light railway systems, inter-city expressways and highways, and air terminals are some of the instances of Chinese endeavors, that contribute to the modernization of the urban transportation system of Ethiopia. That would have huge economic and social significance by way of expediting economic growth and helping promote import-exports trade.
As things stand now the Ethio- China development partnership appears to further flourish in the years ahead, as Ethiopia ensures its peace and stability, and its political and economic role in the continent advances. The fact that Ethiopia is the first destination for the new Chinese Foreign Minister African tour, is an indicator of Ethiopia’s growing importance in the Chinese foreign policy priorities towards Africa.
The new Chinese Foreign Minister has brought the good news this week that his government made a partial cancellation of Ethiopia’s debt to China. This news could not come at a better time. Due to the hard times of the conflicts and the accompanying economic pressures of the past two years, debt servicing for Ethiopia has been quite challenging. Like a good friend, China has demonstrated it always gets Ethiopia’s back.
The Chinese are working with their Ethiopian counterparts in almost every field of endeavor from mining to manufacturing, and from agriculture to commerce and health care services. The Chinese are making a strong footprint in Ethiopia’s journey of economic transformation. They have participated in such huge projects from the Addis Ababa beautification projects to the construction of GERD. Sources close to the construction industry say that the majority of high-rise buildings, roads, and dams, railway, airport projects throughout the country are being handled by Chinese contractors.
The people-to-people relations between China and Ethiopia have developed so much that is now almost common to see Chinese in the remotest Ethiopian towns. Finding a Chinese working in tomato fields, fishing by the side of the river, or enjoying in bars and restaurants in rural towns is no longer a thing of surprise at all. Even intermarriages between people of the two nations are on the rise and not no longer uncommon.
Some Ethiopian universities have already launched Chinese language studies programs at a degree level. On the other hand, several thousand Ethiopians are pursuing their higher education at various colleges and institutions in China. Thousands of workers take skill upgrading courses at institutions in china.
After he arrived in Addis and observed what is going on the ground regarding the Ethio-China all rounded co-operation, The Chinese Foreign Minister, Qin Gang has been quoted as saying: “This time I have felt firsthand the fruitful outcomes of our cooperation and I am deeply proud about the achievements we have made. I am fully confident about the bright future of our bilateral relations.
This is the second visit by a Chinese Foreign Minister in less than 14 months. This is indicative of Ethiopia’s increasing importance in the implementation of the ambitious Chinese development initiative in Africa- the Belt and Road Initiative. The former Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has said a year ago, “China and Ethiopia have a traditional friendship and the two sides have become comprehensive strategic partners. Through the test of international turbulence, relations between the two countries have not been disturbed by external factors or affected by domestic changes.”
The memorandum of understanding signed this week between the two countries, is indicative of the determination of the two countries to further widen and deepen their bilateral corporations in all fields of endeavor. The intensification of the political and economic alliance of the two nations would expedite the realization of Ethiopia’s vision of emerging as the economic powerhouse of east Africa [the African equivalent of Asian Tigers], thereby shifting the dynamics of the Horn’s geopolitics in favor of the African players.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 17 JANUARY 2023
