In the afternoon of May 4, 2014 local time, at the invitation of Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Rotating President of the African Union and President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Premier Li Keqiang arrived at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport by special plane, starting his official visits to Ethiopia and the African Union (AU) headquarters. Premier Li Keqiang’s wife Mme. Cheng Hong arrived by the same plane.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn of Ethiopia and Mrs. Hailemariam met Premier Li Keqiang and his wife at the airport and held a grand welcoming ceremony for them. The military band played the national anthems of the two countries. Li Keqiang inspected the guards of honor. The local people, dressed in national costume, with singing and dancing, warmly welcomed the distinguished guests coming afar from China. H.E. Xie Xiaoyan, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, was present at the airport to welcomed the delegation.

Li Keqiang said, China and Ethiopia enjoy profound traditional friendship. Both sides uphold the principles of sincerity, friendship, mutual benefits and win-win result, and have achieved fruitful results in the cooperation in various fields. The AU headquarters are located in Ethiopia. China and AU have enjoyed a comprehensive and rapid development of their relations and kept close coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs in recent years. The AU has grown to be a flag symbolizing the unity and self-reliance of the African countries. I am looking forward to the in-depth exchanges of views with the leaders of Ethiopia and the AU on bilateral and other topics of common interest, for the promotion of the in-depth development of China-Ethiopia and China-AU relations and cooperation.

During the visit, Li Keqiang will hold talks and meetings with the leaders of Ethiopia and the AU, deliver a speech at the AU headquarters on China-Africa relations and China’s policy towards Africa, visit the cooperation projects between China and Africa, hold discussion with the representatives from the economic, trade and people-to-people exchange circles in both China and Africa and visit the people benefited from the “Brightness Campaign” in Ethiopia.
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Source: Foreign Ministry of China, May 5, 2014, titled “Li Keqiang Arrives in Addis Ababa for Official Visits to Ethiopia and African Union Headquarters”.