On the afternoon ofDecember 15, 2003, visiting Premier Wen Jiabao met with Ethiopian President Girma Wolde Giorgis in Addis Ababa.

Girma said he hoped Premier Wen's visit and the ongoing Second Ministerial Conference of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum are successful. He said the friendly relationship betweenChina and Ethiopia has developed smoothly, with many results achieved in different areas of cooperation. He welcomed more and more Chinese companies to take part in the economic construction of Ethiopia.

Premier Wen said the relationship between China and Ethiopia has a long history and that the bilateral relations have been developing fast recently with abundant achievements. Wen said that as developing countries, mutual trust in politics, mutual respect, and equal treatment to each other are the solid foundation of further development of bilateral cooperation. Wen noted that China respects the development road chosen by the Ethiopian people, and is willing to work with the Ethiopian side to improve the friendship among the peoples and expand mutually beneficial cooperation.