Ambassador expects FOCAC to bring Ethiopia greater cooperation with China in multiple areas

Ethiopia looks forward to carrying out greater cooperation with China in various fields through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) mechanism, according to Ethiopian Ambassador to China Tefera Derbew Yimam.

The ambassador said Ethiopia, like previous years, will be represented extensively throughout the 2024 FOCAC Summit, scheduled for Sept. 4-6 in Beijing.

"Government authorities -- ministers and senior officials -- will take part in the summit, will take part in all activities, events of the summits, will be present in the senior officials' meetings, will be present in the ministerial conference," he told China Global Television Network (CGTN) in a recent interview.

The ambassador highlighted Ethiopia's growth potential, saying that the country needs to work with China in such priority areas as agriculture and industry for further economic expansion.

"Our vision is to be a beacon of prosperity in Africa. Towards this end, we would like to cooperate in agriculture modernization, industrialization, and talent cultivation, especially in the field of industry. Our priority is input production for agriculture, for example, fertilizer production. We would like to develop our steel industry so that we can build our economy, infrastructure," he said.

New energy and emerging sectors like information and communications technology (ICT) and artificial intelligence will also be focused, according to the ambassador, who added that next week's FOCAC summit will be a great opportunity for China and Ethiopia to explore more ways of cooperation.

"New energy is an area that we'd like to cooperate with China. We are pursuing a green development path like China, [which is] excelling in this field. So, I'd like to cooperate in this area. In the newly emerging areas, we would also like to be a part of the process, in science and technology. In ICT, artificial intelligence, we have been closely communicating and closely working with the Chinese side so that we can have a significant cooperation in this area. So, in the coming FOCAC, our lists are long, and expectations are huge. And we are quite confident that the FOCAC action plan will capture most of the interests Ethiopia has regarding the FOCAC framework," he said.

Ethiopia expects greater cooperation with China through FOCAC: ambassador

China's total value-added of industrial enterprises above the designated size, an important economic indicator, expanded 4.5 percent year on year in August this year, official data showed Saturday.

On a monthly basis, the industrial output edged up 0.32 percent in August from the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) said in a monthly statement.

The enterprises above the designated size refer to those with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.82 million U.S. dollars).

The value-added of equipment manufacturing grew by 6.4 percent year on year, while that of hi-tech manufacturing surged 8.6 percent, 1.9 percentage points and 4.1 percentage points faster than the average industrial production growth, respectively.

As for consumption, retail sales of consumer goods went up 2.1 percent year on year in August to 3.8726 trillion yuan (about 545 billion U.S. dollars). From January to August, the overall online retail volume reached 9.6352 trillion yuan (about 1.357 trillion U.S. dollars), up 8.9 percent year on year. The retail sales of services increased by 6.9 percent year-on-year.

"In August, the national economy operated in a stable manner on the whole. We adhered to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability and implemented the new development philosophy accurately and comprehensively, strengthened macroeconomic control and focused on promoting high-quality development. The production demand continued to recover and employment and prices remained basically stable. The high-quality development continued to advance. The economy witnessed a generally stable situation and steady development," said NBS spokeswoman Liu Aihua at a press conference in Beijing.

China's industrial output up 4.5 pct in August