Excellency Lia Tadesse, Minister of Health,
Excellency Birtukan Ayano, State Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Excellency Sahrela Abdulahi, State Minister of Health,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, I’m very excited to witness the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government to Ethiopia. It wouldn’t be possible without the joint efforts by our two sides. China is the first to provide Ethiopia with vaccine aid through the bilateral inter-governmental channel, which speaks volumes of the profound traditional friendship between the two countries. As the saying goes, “Every minute counts when life is at stake”. The China-aided vaccines will surely help protect the life and health of many Ethiopians from the ravages of pandemic.
China and Ethiopia have always been battling the coronavirus in solidarity. We will never forget that, this time last year, Prime Minister Abiy reaffirmed Ethiopia’s support to China’s combat against COVID-19 via a telephone call and letters of sympathies to President Xi Jinping. Ethiopian friends stood with us Chinese in the most difficult times. Ethiopian Airlines has played its key role in facilitating China-Ethiopia and China-Africa personal travels and the fast and safe transshipments of crucial supplies including vaccines. Over the past year, the Chinese government at the central and local levels, enterprises and commerce chambers as well as organizations from different sectors have delivered a large number of badly-needed medical supplies to Ethiopia among other forms of tangible support. Ethiopia was the destination for the very first Chinese medical expert team to Africa. As President Xi rightly puts in his letter to President Sahel-Work, China and Ethiopia have set a shining example of China-Africa solidarity against COVID-19.
China has worked in real earnest to pursue the common good of humankind. Vaccine is a powerful weapon against the virus and brings hope for saving lives. It should serve the entire world and benefit all humanity. President Xi was second to none to pledge that China will make its vaccines a global public good, thus improving vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries. Despite limited capacity and huge demand at home, China has been following through on President Xi’s promise to the world of promoting equitable distribution of vaccines. China has donated and is donating vaccines to 80 developing countries in urgent need, and has provided support under COVAX for emergency use of vaccines in developing countries. With these concrete actions, China has lived up to its responsibilities of a major country and advanced the building of a health community for all.
Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese government has all along put the people and their lives above everything else in its COVID-19 response. In the research and development of vaccines, China has always prioritized safety and effectiveness, with each and every batch well-tested for quality and reliability. In many countries that have received China’s vaccine donations or exports, the heads of state or government chose Chinese vaccines for inoculation, which is a firm vote of confidence from members of the international community.
COVID-19 has brought tremendous changes to the world, but it will never stand in the way of the burgeoning growth of China-Ethiopia relations. China was among the first to contain the virus and reopen the economy and the only major economy with positive growth in the year 2020, and is following the new development philosophy, moving faster to foster a new development paradigm and implementing the 14th Five-year Plan at full throttle. We are confident that Ethiopia is able to put the pandemic under control and achieve economic recovery at an early date. We will deliver on the outcomes of the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 by continuing support within its capacity to Ethiopia’s efforts to defeat the virus. We are more than ready to play a conducive role as Ethiopia undertakes to boost the economy and improve people’s lives. To this end, we will join hands with Ethiopia to further synergize development plans of the two sides, deepen practical cooperation in economy, health and other areas, and promote high-quality development of Belt and Road projects.
Friends, let’s work together to push the China-Ethiopia Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership to go from strength to strength.
Thank you.