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The Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held talks on Wednesday, July 9, 2014 and agreed to boost the cooperation the two nations have.

Ethiopia and China have signed a Bilateral Market Access Protocol at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva as part of Ethiopia’s ongoing accession process to the organization.

Ethiopia signed a trade and economic cooperation agreement with China on Wednesday. The agreement was signed at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

China will grant a 100 million US dollar loan and provide 65 automobiles and 25 buses to Ethiopia as part of the agreement.

The loan is expected to finance the Addis Ababa deep well water supply projects and the vehicles will be used as transportation for state guests said the MoFED.

Ethiopia has taken a step towards expanding its horticultural exports by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The agreement aims to enhance cooperation in the production and export of avocados, onions, and potatoes.

A delegation of business and government representatives from the Czech Republic and a member of the International Chamber of Commerce held discussions with the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations on bilateral trade and investment opportunities in Ethiopia.

The economic policies adopted by the governments of the two countries in the last 20 years have served to promote direct trade between the business communities in the two countries said Gebrehiwot Gebreegzihber member of the ECCSA board of Directors.

As consequence of such policies the trade between the two countries has grown from just 312 thousand US dollars in 2004 to more than 12 million US dollars this year he said.