On November 4, 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao met respectively with Ghanaian President John Kufuor and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi at the Great Hall of the People.

Wen said China and the two countries enjoy a traditional friendship and have registered new progress in all-round cooperation in recent years. Wen said China always attaches importance to the ties with the two countries and deems Ghana and Ethiopia its important cooperative partners in Africa. He believed with the joint efforts of both sides, bilateral ties will be continuously consolidated and developed. Kufuor and Meles said their countries are satisfied with the sound development of the friendly cooperation with China and thanked for China's long-standing support and assistance. They believed that Ghana-China and Ethiopia-China relations, based on the profound friendship, enjoy a rosy outlook.

China is willing to intensify trade and economic cooperation with Ghana under the principles of equality, mutual benefits and complementarity, Wen said while talking about China-Ghana economic and trade ties. "We'll encourage Chinese businesses to invest in Ghana and will continue to boost cooperation in such major areas as communications, infrastructure and human resources development," the premier said. China will take active measures to expand imports of processed goods from Ghana, rein in its own trade surplus and gradually maintain trade balance, Wen said.

Kufuor appreciated the smooth development of bilateral trade cooperation. Chinese companies have won the praise and confidence of the Ghanaian people with the efficiency and good quality demonstrated in Chinese contracted projects in Ghana, he said. The president said Ghana wishes to expand cooperation with China particularly in hydropower and infrastructure projects.

When talking about the China-Ethiopia ties, Wen said cooperation in infrastructure, health care and human resources has proven effective in recent years. The two sides should blueprint cooperation programs in line with their existing framework agreement on bilateral development so as to advance friendly cooperation in all areas, said Wen.

Wen praised Ethiopia, co-chair of the forum, for its efforts to promote China-Africa relations. China attaches great importance to developing trade and economic relations with Africa and sticks to the principles of mutual benefit and common prosperity in bilateral cooperation, he said. The Chinese government has always requested companies to abide by laws, maintain good credit standing, keep improving quality and efficiency and protect the local environments while operating in Africa, said the premier. "We also encourage Chinese businesses to be heavily involved in Africa's causes of public welfare, so that China-Africa cooperation will truly benefit the African people," Wen said.

Meles said Chinese companies are welcome to invest in Ethiopia and other African countries, carry out diverse forms of cooperation and participate in the African countries' construction drive. These will benefit the African people, he said. The prime minister said his country wishes to expand cooperation with China in agriculture, commodities trade, infrastructure construction and human resources development.