On June 12, 2008, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun met with a visiting delegation headed by Director General of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange Authority (ECEA), Addis Alem Balema, also former Ethiopian Ambassador to China. Zhai welcomed Addis's visit to China and appreciated his contributions to the development of China-Ethiopia relations. Zhai also made positive comments on the development of bilateral operation on politics, economy, trade and foreign affairs in recent years and thanked for Ethiopia's support to China on the Taiwan, Tibet, Olympics and other issues, expressing hope that Addis will continue to make contributions on his new post to developing bilateral friendship.

Addis said he is pleased with the sound development of bilateral ties, pledging to contribute to pushing forward China-Ethiopia friendly relations on his new post. He hailed his current visit to China as fruitful. Addis also expressed condolences over the Wenchuan earthquake, for which Zhai expressed gratitude.