Chinese companies have created more than 28,300 jobs in various sectors during the past five-year period in Ethiopia, an official at the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) told Xinhua on July 21.
According to Mekonen Hailu, EIC Communications Director, a total of 28,391 jobs were created by 279 Chinese companies in the east African country during the period of January 2012 to January 2017, of which 20,072 were permanent while the remaining 8,319 were temporary jobs.
Out of these jobs, over 19,000 were created in Ethiopia's manufacturing sector as the sector is leading its African peers by attracting companies from China both in numbers and financial capital, with a total number of 276 projects both under implementation and operation phase during the stated period, Hailu said.
The data from the Ethiopian Investment Commission further indicated that the 279 Chinese companies that were set operational during the reported period are additional to 100 other Chinese companies that are now currently under implementation in the country.
The 279 Chinese companies have a registered financial capital of over 13.16 billion Ethiopian birr (over US$572 million), it was indicated.
Construction, service and agricultural sectors are the other sectors hosting a great number of Chinese companies in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation.
According to recent data from Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry, Chinese companies have invested around US$4 billion in Ethiopia during the last two decades, creating job opportunities for over 111,000 Ethiopians on permanent and temporary basis.
China is also Ethiopia's largest trading partner, in which the two countries' trade reached US$6.37 billion in 2015, while growing on average 22.2 percent annually for the last several years.
ans-ser3 � clH%���6'>For the first 10 months, China's foreign trade with the United States, its second-biggest trade partner, rose 7.4 percent. Its surplus with the United States widened 11.5 percent from one year earlier to 1.69 trillion yuan.Trade with the European Union (EU), China's biggest trade partner, climbed 8.4 percent year on year for January-October, and that with the ASEAN, its third-largest trade partner, expanded 13.7 percent.
Combined trade with countries along the Belt and Road amounted to 6.84 trillion yuan, up 14.8 percent from one year earlier.
Yingda Securities chief economist Li Daxiao said a string of favorable policies, including lower import tariffs and higher export tax rebates, also helped boost trade growth and stabilize the economic growth.
The country's economy expanded 6.5 percent in the third quarter, down from 6.7 percent in the second quarter but in line with the government's annual target.
Its imports of crude oil climbed 8.1 percent year on year to 377 million tonnes in the first 10 months. Coal imports increased 11.5 percent while those of copper surged 17.2 percent. However, auto imports dropped 5.3 percent compared with one year earlier.
At the ongoing first China International Import Expo, China vowed to import 40 trillion U.S. dollars worth of products and services in the next 15 years.