Ethiopian Ambassador to China Teshome Toga (WEI YAO) 

Ethiopian Ambassador to China Teshome Toga congratulated the Chinese Government as the country has accomplished its poverty alleviation target of the new era as scheduled.   

Speaking during an interview with ChinAfrica, Teshome emphasized that such achievement is the result of China’s targeted policies and strategies.  

"That is a huge task. That requires a lot of work, good investment and good policy strategy and a very strong and dedicated leadership," he said.  

Teshome said that his Ethiopian colleagues were very impressed after they visited the areas most affected by poverty in China and saw the poverty alleviation efforts there. In Ethiopia, there are about 20 million poor populations. Compared to China, it’s a small number, but the country is making efforts to reduce and eradicate poverty, according to him.   

"So what China did gives us hope and encourages us. It is a source of inspiration and we believe we can also do it," he told ChinAfrica. "We also aspire to have a better life for our people, so there are definitely experience we'd like to learn and see how each village in China was identified, experts and leaders were assigned and given a certain time frame, the necessary resources assigned and then the target was finally achieved. That's meticulous planning in my view." 

There were concerns among him and his colleagues as to whether the pandemic would affect this poverty alleviation target. But the Chinese Government kept its word with determination and commitment on meeting the target. "They deserve our appreciation," Teshome said.