The Chinese government has granted scholarship for some 41 Ethiopian students. China's scholarship grants to Ethiopia have now reached 40 to 50 scholarships per year. Over the past years, more than 300 Ethiopian students have benefited from such scholarships.

The students who were granted scholarship to pursue their education in renowned Chinese higher education institutions received their university entrance certificates this week at a ceremony held at the Chinese Embassy in Addis Ababa.

The students who are scheduled to fly to China next month, will pursue their undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral study in fields such as civil engineering, architecture and business management.

During the certificate awarding ceremony, the Embassy’s Cultural Counselor Song Yanqun said that it is a significant step taken by the Chinese government to honor its commitments made at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Educational assistance

For decades China has been consistently providing educational assistance to Africa, according to the counselor. “From 2006, the Chinese government decided to boost the number of government scholarships for Africa from the then 2,000 per year to 4,000 by 2009. As a long-term cooperation partner, Ethiopia will be a major beneficiary to this initiative,” he added.

Indicating that Ethiopia has attached great importance to education and developed wide cooperation with various countries, the counselor said that his country is more than happy to contribute to Ethiopia’s educational development and has accordingly broadened the educational cooperation and exchange.

In addition to scholarships grants, the Chinese government has recently opened a vocational school in Addis Ababa to share Chinese experience and knowledge to Ethiopian professionals. The joint school, which plans to enroll 3,000 students on campus in the near future, would add teaching subjects such as architecture, bridge and road construction, and cartography to cater to Ethiopia’s needs.

Next year it would be the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-Ethiopian diplomatic ties. Over the recent years, the two sides enjoyed more and more common interests, reflected by frequent exchange of high-level visits, increasing political mutual trust, and fruitful achievements in the fields of culture, education, agriculture, sports, and human resources.