Remarks at "China-Africa: People-to-People Exchange for Mutual Learning" Seminar by Chinese Ambassador Tan Jian
(2 February 2018, Addis Ababa)
Your Excellency Mr. Hu Zhengyue, Vice President of China Public Diplomacy Association
Your Excellency Mr. Quartey Thomas Kwesi, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission
Your Excellency Ambassador Hailekiros Gessese, former Ambassador of Ethiopia to China,
Distinguished participants, friends, ladies and gentlemen
A very good morning to you all!
It gives me great pleasure to speak at China-Africa: People-to-People Exchange for Mutual Learning Seminar. Two months have passed since my setting foot in this great nation as Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia. Many people asked if I have settled down. I responded that I have already found my feet.
In the past 60 days or so, I have been thrilled by the depth and width of China-Ethiopia and China-Africa friendship, in particular by the brotherly sentiments from Ethiopian and African people towards Chinese people, as evidenced by the warm speeches made by H.E. Mr. Quartey and Ambassador Hailekiros before me. I could say that I am greatly absorbed into a feeling of home away from home.
China-Ethiopia relationship has enjoyed comprehensive and rapid development in recent years, which was elevated to "Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership" as jointly stated by top leaders of our two countries last year.
To date, the Belt & Road Initiative has achieved several landmark early harvests in Ethiopia thanks to the joint efforts by the two sides, like the Addis Ababa to Djibouti Railway, the construction of and investment in many industrial parks.
It is also noteworthy that at the same time, there has been increasing exchange and growing amity between our peoples, laying a solid foundation in public opinion for the development of pragmatic cooperation in all aspects.
For example, Ethiopia has become the aviation hub for travelling between Africa and China. Everyday there are more than 2000 Chinese transit or enter at Bole Airport. Every year, events like "Happy Spring Festival", Moon's Day, China Movie Week, Photo Show etc. sponsored by Embassy of China are organized and well received by Ethiopian people. More and more Ethiopian young people are going to China for pursuing their study. Some of them are with us today in this room.
Dear friends,
People-to-people contacts between China and Ethiopia can be dated back to more than 2000 years ago, when Ethiopia was called Axumite Kingdom and considered as one of the 4 great empires together with China, Rome and Persia. Thriving trade between east and west in Red Sea ushered in the gradual rise of Axumite, who traded ivories, gold and mastic for Chinese silk, and resold them to the Europe.
Du huan, a Chinese traveller in Tang Dynasty visited Axumite and wrote down his experience there. Flourishing interactions along land and maritime Silk Road resulted in closer exchanges between our two countries, which could be vividly manifested by the copper coins from Northern Song Dynasty recently unearthed in Dire Dawa of Eastern Ethiopia.
It is worth mentioning that during the World War against Fascist Aggression, the Chinese and Ethiopian people sympathized with and inspired each other, and cultivated profound friendship. At that period of time, we Chinese were fighting Japanese invaders; and the Ethiopians were fighting the Italians.
In 1938, Chairman Mao Zedong wrote his famous book titled On Protracted War, in which he spoke highly of and expressed his optimism about Ethiopian guerrilla war. There were a lot of news coverage of Ethiopian war in China.
In 1970s, Dr. Mei Gengnian, head of China's first medical aid team to Ethiopia, sacrificed his life in his medical field visit to rural areas in Jimma, whose graveyard has been guarded over 4 decades by two generations of a local family. This touching story is covered in both Ethiopia and China.
As ancient civilizations, both China and Ethiopia has made important contribution to the progress of humanity, take tea and coffee for example.
Both are age-old civilizations. Yet the sad truth is that we are "developing countries" .
But we are catching up.
China's achievements in the 40-year period of Reform and Opening-up is an economic miracle. Both China and Ethiopia are vigorously exploring the development paths suited to their respective national conditions, and are pursuing the great dream of national rejuvenation.
Ethiopia, as the only African country that has never been colonized, has inspired other African countries in achieving political independence.
With its double-digit economic growth over the past 10 years, Ethiopia could again inspire other African countries to achieve independent and sustainable development.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Currently, developing countries are increasingly integrated into the global economy and increasingly involved in global governance. However, the hard fact is that, influential think-tanks, media and NGOs are mostly based in developed countries. It is therefore imperative for developing countries to substantially promote exchange and mutual learning.
It is high time that our academia and media enhance cooperation.
We need to safeguard our common interests.
We need to articulate our views.
We need strong intellectual support.
We need you.
China has been actively advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, with the firm support from Ethiopia and many other African countries. Let it be reminded that there are five pillars in the BRI -- policy connectivity, facility connectivity, trade connectivity, financial connectivity, and people-to-people connectivity. The last is of course not the least one.
There is an old Chinese saying: the relationship between two countries depends on the affection between its two peoples.
It is in view of this as well as the above-said, that I highly value today's Seminar.
I will be happy to dialogue with our Ethiopian, African Union and UNECA friends, including officials, scholars, journalists, writers, artists and students. I am looking forward to engaging in in-depth discussion with you. It is my sincere hope that participants could speak out.
I expect the Seminar informative, insightful, interactive and interesting.
I wish the Seminar a big success.
Thank you.