In a bid to enhance trade and investment between China and Ethiopia, the first Africa-China Investment and Trade Facility (ACTIF) center has been inaugurated last week at Hyatt Regency Hotel, with hopes of providing business services for companies seeking cooperation and business enhancement. The event saw academicians from both China and Ethiopia gathered in one room to launch the annual trade service. The center's services include market research, business matching, investment advisory, training and workshop, and legal consulting in the wider aim of enhancing investment relations between the two countries. The establishment of official bilateral relationships between China and Africa began in the late 1950s, with only a few countries being free of colonial rule at the time. As the modern China-Africa relationship nears 70 years, trade between the two reached an all-time high of 282 billion dollars last year. For Ethiopia, total merchandise imports reached five billion dollars in 2022, with close to 61pc coming from Asia, of which China constitutes half. The figure reflects a rise of 11pc from the previous year, which was a record. Ethiopia primarily exports oil seeds, flowers, coffee, and meat to China while it imports nearly everything from the world's second-biggest economy.

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