ADDIS ABABA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 Chinese enterprises are expected to exhibit their products and solutions in the upcoming China Trade Week in Ethiopia, organizers disclosed on Thursday.
The event is slated from May 2 to 4 in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
"China Trade Week in Ethiopia is an excellent opportunity for the local business community to develop direct trading links with high-end Chinese producers and solution providers," said Wang Hailing, Chairman and Managing Director of MIE Group.
The Dubai-based company organizes the China Trade Week series in countries across Africa and the Middle East.
The China Trade Week in Ethiopia, which is supported by the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association, was first held in July 2017.
The second edition, in May last year, had brought together more than 50 Chinese companies in Addis Ababa as thousands of Ethiopian business community members forged trading partnership with their Chinese counterparts.
This year's edition in Ethiopia is expected to bring together Chinese companies across various sectors, including light industries and textiles, construction materials and machinery, food and beverages,according to the organizers.
The China Trade Week series, as a business-to-business trade show, features Chinese producers and manufacturing firms that are keen on connecting with local and regional sourcing, buying and purchasing professionals across the Middle East and Africa.
China is already Ethiopia's biggest trading partner, with Ethiopia exporting some 144.5 million U.S. dollars of goods to China in the first six months of the Ethiopian 2017/18 Fiscal Year, according to figures from the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade.
Divine New Energy, a Chinese company that supplies solar products and solar system solutions for households and commercial customers around the world, was among the participants during the previous edition of the China Trade Week in Ethiopia.
Zhong Ta, Deputy General Manager of Divine New Energy, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the company's solar products are suitable for the estimated 80 percent of Ethiopians living in rural areas with little access to regular electricity.
"We focus on providing solar light system, solar home system and solar pumping system ranging from 3 U.S. dollars to about 8,000 U.S. dollars," he said.
Zhong also noted that business-to-business meetings, such as the China Trade Week, are important platforms for foreign companies to forge partnership with local firms, and access the wider Ethiopian consumers.
He also said that his company, during the second China Trade Week last year in Addis Ababa, had encountered with "several potential agents that have developed good sales and distribution channels in the country."
Nebiyu Lemma, Managing Director of Prana Events Company, an Ethiopian business promotion firm co-organizing the event, told Xinhua on Thursday that the trade week mainly aspires to further strengthen trade and overall ties among the two countries.
"Our intention is to create a trading platform where Chinese companies can interact with local business stakeholders across various target areas," Lemma said.
