Addis Ababa: Journalists from People’s Daily, a leading Chinese national newspaper, have been thrilled by Ethiopia’s development endeavors and the sound partnership between the two countries.

These journalists, who are recently in Ethiopia, have been seeking cooperation with their Ethiopian counterparts to strengthen media content exchanges that would promote friendly relations between Ethiopia and China in multifaceted spheres.

As part of their trip, the media professionals visited today the under construction Ethiopian Airlines Headquarter and terminal expansion of Ethiopian Airlines.

The Headquarter and terminal expansion is being built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) companies respectively, it was indicated.

Approached by ENA, Senior Editor at People’s Daily Newspaper, Ren Yan who has come to Ethiopia for the first time, expressed his enthusiasm about visiting Ethiopia.

“This is my first time visiting Ethiopia. When I to
uched down here this morning I found something beyond my imagination. Before I came here many friends in China told me some African countries are not so developed. But when I landed here this morning I found that it’s so beautiful.”

According to him, so many green trees and flowers in the street that makes the capital Addis Ababa beautiful and clean. “I think my visit here updated my impression about Ethiopia. I liked this country so much,” the journalist revealed.

Mentioning the distance between Ethiopia and China which is far away, Yan believes the One Belt and One Road Initiative, which initiated by the Chinese government that seeks to connect Asia with Africa and Europe linked the two countries so close.

“I think there are so many flagship projects around the framework of One Belt and One Road Initiative, just to link our two peoples closer than before. I think it’s like a new bridge.”

Moreover, Yan elaborated that the bilateral relationship between Ethiopia and China has developed very quickly for th
e last few decades, especially for the last 10 years.

“I think we can improve not only our trade, investment and economic areas, but also in the people-to-people, culture sectors, among others. We can see nearly every sector. We can see the fruits of cooperation between our two countries.”

Editor in chief at People’s Daily Newspaper, Huang Peizhao expressed his good impression of Ethiopia, adding that the country is a very important country in Africa. According to him, “Ethiopia is the biggest political and even economic center in the Horn of Africa”

For instance, the journalist mentioned Ethiopian Airlines Group which is playing very important role in Africa by connecting every corner of the continent, he noted, adding that I think Ethiopia is a good country with a bright future.

Noting many Chinese companies are working here in Ethiopia he said, adding they are contributing a lot to the development of the Ethiopian economy and improving the quality of Ethiopian people.

Another editor Qi Cui said she wa
s excited about coming to the African continent and one of the most important countries in Africa is Ethiopia for the first time.

“Before coming here, I have read a lot of articles and news reports about the flourishing relations between China and African countries. After coming here, I feel even more convinced that China and African countries are brothers, and we have a very sound relationship that can be traced back to long history.”

Since the two countries established diplomatic relations, Cui said bilateral relations have developed very rapidly.

China has built a number of infrastructure construction projects in Ethiopia to help Ethiopia enhance people’s livelihood, and infrastructure conditions.

“These are very important cooperation outcomes between our two countries. I hope in the coming future our bilateral relations will continue to flourish and our people to people exchanges and cultural cooperation will continue to develop rapidly,” she elaborated.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency