Demeke Mekonnen Hassen, Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, led a team on a visit to Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) on May 26.

The team was welcomed by Jia Wenjian, deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university.

Jia Wenjian, deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university, speaks at the meeting. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Ethiopia in 1970, the two countries have shared a time-honored traditional friendship, and Ethiopia is an important partner in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, according to Jia.

Language serves as a key bridge for China-Ethiopia cooperation, Jia said, adding that as the first and only university in China that has opened an Amharic language major, BFSU has published a series of textbooks which have filled in the blanks in Amharic teaching materials in China.

The university will be committed to building a multilingual and interdisciplinary platform to facilitate China-Africa dialogue, tell stories about China and Africa well, promote cultural exchanges between China and Ethiopia, and enhance mutual understanding among people of the two countries, Jia said.

Demeke Mekonnen Hassen, Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, speaks at the meeting. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Demeke said Ethiopia has attached great importance to the construction and development of BFSU’s Amharic language major, and highlighted the importance of the major in promoting friendly relations between the two countries.

He thanked BFSU for its unremitting efforts and contributions in building the major, and expressed his expectations for in-depth exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.

Jia Wenjian (fourth from left), deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university, and Demeke Mekonnen Hassen (fourth from right), Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, unveil Amharic language textbooks published by the FLTRP. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Subsequent to the meeting, Demeke and Jia, together with Tefera Derbew Yimam, the Ethiopian ambassador to China, and Chang Xiaoling, deputy secretary of the CPC committee of the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP) Group, deputy chair of the board of the FLTRP Group and deputy editor-in-chief of the FLTRP, unveiled Amharic language textbooks published by the press.

The books included Chinese Culture in the Amharic Language published in 2021 and Oral Amharic Language Introduction and Amharic Language Integrated Course I published in 2023.