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China-Africa relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China tests diplomatic prowess in Ethiopia as it rebuilds after Tigray war

  • Chinese special envoy for Horn of Africa Xue Bing visits Addis Ababa for talks with leaders of the country and regions hit hardest in conflict
  • The East African nation is a major destination for Chinese investment and a testing ground for Beijing to gain peacemaking experience, analysts say

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Chinese special envoy for the Horn of Africa Xue Bing (right) meets Awol Arba, president of Afar regional state in northern Ethiopia, one of the areas most affected by the Tigray conflict. Photo: Handout
Jevans Nyabiage
China sent a senior diplomat to Ethiopia to meet central government and regional leaders as they worked to ensure full implementation of the Pretoria peace deal that ended the deadly Tigray war, giving Beijing a chance to test its crisis diplomacy skills.
Xue Bing, who was appointed China’s special envoy for the Horn of Africa in 2022 to help broker peace in the region, returned to Addis Ababa this week for talks with Demeke Mekonnen, Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs.

Xue visited Tigray, where he met the region’s interim president Getachew Reda and his cabinet members.

He also travelled to the Afar region, where he held talks with Afar Regional State President Awol Arba and other leaders.

Tigray and Afar were the regions most affected by the Tigray war, which broke out in November 2020 when Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces attacked the Northern Command headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF), as well as a number of other bases in Tigray.

At the meeting in Addis Ababa, Demeke assured the Chinese envoy that the Ethiopian government was determined to fully implement the Pretoria peace agreement. Demeke said he appreciated China’s continued development aid to Ethiopia and its constructive role in addressing security, development and governance challenges in Africa.

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