ADDIS ABABA – China launched the “Big Market for All: Export to China” Ethiopia Session on Wednesday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, as part of its effort to encourage and expand exports of Ethiopian products to the Chinese market.
A total of 33 cooperation deals were signed between companies of the two sides, with a combined contract value of over 330 million U.S. dollars.
Speaking at the event, Chen Hai, Chinese ambassador to Ethiopia, said the initiative aims to make the Chinese big market a global shared market, foster a more balanced trade growth and safeguard a multilateral trading system.
Chen said China remains the largest trading partner and source of investment to Ethiopia, and continuously opens up its market through extending zero-tariff treatment, among others.
“These policies not only help lower market access costs for exports to China, enable Ethiopian products to sell more in the Chinese market, and promote the balanced development of bilateral trade, but also attract Chinese and other trading partners to increase investment in Ethiopia’s advantageous industries, enhance the competitiveness and reputation of Ethiopian products and achieve agricultural modernization and industrialization,” he said.
According to the ambassador, the session is a manifestation of China’s emphasis on boosting its bilateral economic and trade cooperation with Ethiopia through importing high-quality products from Ethiopia.
Kassahun Gofe, Ethiopia’s minister of trade and regional integration, said Ethiopia’s exports to China reached an impressive 369 million U.S. dollars in the 2025/2026 Ethiopian fiscal year that ended on July 7, marking an average annual growth rate of 92 percent over the last five years.
He said the “Big Market for All: Export to China” initiative is vital not only to expand commercial trade but also to advance a bold, strategic and enduring partnership between China and Ethiopia.
“By opening the vast Chinese market wider to Ethiopian goods, China is not only satisfying the growing demands of its consumers for premium products, but it is also creating a resilient, balanced, and mutually beneficial trade architecture,” he said.
Chang Hui, deputy director general of the Department of Foreign Trade at China’s Ministry of Commerce, who led a delegation of Chinese importing companies, said the all-weather strategic partnership between China and Ethiopia has continued to deepen practical cooperation in various fields, yielding fruitful results in bilateral trade ties.
He said the initiative is a practical step by China to pursue high-standard opening up, actively expand imports from countries around the world, and promote balanced trade.
The trade promotion event, co-hosted by China’s Ministry of Commerce, Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, and the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance, brought together more than 200 Chinese and Ethiopian representatives of the import-export trade, who are expected to exchange market information, engage in matchmaking activity and establish and expand supply chains.
— Xinhua
