China's top legislator Wu Bangguo said in Addis Ababa on Sunday that China's relations with Ethiopia have been developing quite rapidly in recent years and have been pushed up to a higher level.

He made the statement during talks with Speaker of Ethiopian Council of People's Representatives Teshome Toga.

"Since our countries established foreign relations with each other, especially, since their comprehensive cooperation partnership was formed in 2003, high-level exchanges between our two countries have been more frequent and bilateral trade has been shooting up," Wu said.

"Now our relations have ushered in a new era," he added.

Wu said that both China and Ethiopia are developing countries and therefore face the similar issues such as economic development. The rapid booming of both economies have provided new opportunities for deeper and wider cooperation.

"This is conducive to the welfare and the basic interests of both countries and peoples, as well as constructive to world's peace and prosperity," Wu said.

The Ethiopian speaker agreed with Wu's comments on relations of the two countries and said that Wu's Africa tour, especially, the visit to Ethiopia, is of high importance and can further boost bilateral ties.

Teshome Toga also thanked China for its unconditional support for Ethiopia, adding that the two countries can cooperate better in trade, investment and finance sectors.

He said that Ethiopia will, as it has done in the past, continue to stick to "One China" policy and Wu expressed his appreciation for his Ethiopian counterpart's firm commitment as such.

Wu is on a five-African nation tour. Ethiopia is the third leg of his two-week-long visit to Africa.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2008)