On the morning of May 12, 2025, Wang Chengjie, Vice-Chairman and Secretary-General of CIETAC, visited the Embassy of Ethiopia in China at the invitation of H.E. Ambassador Tafira Debebe Imamu for discussions and exchanges.

(Secretary-General Wang Chengjie in discussions at the Ethiopian Embassy)

Ambassador Tafira stated that this special invitation to CIETAC aimed to facilitate in-depth exchanges on resolving China-Ethiopia bilateral trade disputes. He noted that with the increasingly close economic and trade cooperation between China and Ethiopia, cross-border disputes had been growing steadily. To promote the sustained and vibrant development of China-Africa economic relations and to resolve disputes effectively, the Ambassador expressed hope that CIETAC could fully leverage its professional expertise in international commercial arbitration. Through this dialogue, he looked forward to drawing upon CIETAC's cutting-edge concepts and successful practices in international arbitration, with the goal of enhancing the professional capacity of Ethiopian market entities in handling trade disputes and building robust legal safeguards to deepen bilateral economic cooperation.

Secretary-General Wang Chengjie expressed gratitude to Ambassador Tafira for his recognition of CIETAC's work and fully endorsed the Embassy's proactive role in addressing trade issues and facilitating dispute resolution in China-Ethiopia economic cooperation. During the discussions, Secretary-General Wang highlighted CIETAC's achievements in building credibility in both domestic and international arbitration. He particularly emphasized CIETAC's recent initiatives to support China-Africa trade relations and resolve cross-border commercial disputes, including organizing multiple delegations to Africa to promote trade and arbitration services. In February this year, a CIETAC delegation visited Ethiopia, where they held meetings with the Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia and the Chinese Ambassador to the AU, conducted in-depth research on local key economic projects, engaged in professional discussions with Ethiopian law firms, and signed the cooperation agreement with Ethiopian arbitration institutions. All these efforts had laid solid groundwork for deepening bilateral arbitration cooperation. Moreover, CIETAC had successfully initiated and hosted the inaugural 'China-Africa Arbitration Day' in Africa, establishing a vital platform for exchange and mutual learning between the Chinese and African arbitration communities. Secretary-General Wang Chengjie stated that CIETAC had attached great importance to cooperation with arbitration institutions in Ethiopia and across Africa. To further promote deeper collaboration within the China-Africa arbitration community, CIETAC would invite heads of arbitration institutions from multiple African countries to participate in the China-Africa International Arbitration Conference to be held in Changsha, China this June. The conference would serve as a platform to jointly explore innovations in China-Africa dispute resolution mechanisms, to establish relevant institutional frameworks and to provide stronger legal safeguards for the high-quality development of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. 

(SG Wang Chengjie presenting a CIETAC publication to Ambassador Tafira during the meeting)

Ambassador Tafira spoke highly of CIETAC's accomplishments, affirming that the Embassy would fully support the implementation of cooperation between CIETAC and Ethiopian arbitration institutions. He expressed his hope that CIETAC would share China's arbitration expertise across African nations and deliver high-quality arbitration services to resolve China-Ethiopia and broader China-Africa trade disputes.

The two sides then exchanged views on specific cooperation matters.

Nebiyu Mohammed, Head of Bilateral Trade Relations at the Ethiopian Embassy in China, Liu Fei, Deputy Director of the Business Development Department of CIETAC, and Lu Yahan, Deputy Director of the Intellectual Property Dispute Resolution Department of CIETAC attended the discussion.