China has always been committed to further enhancing the relation with Ethiopia in particular and Africa in general, according to Gu Xiaojie, Chinese ambassador to Ethiopia.

During a press conference held on Tuesday at the Chinese Embassy in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Gu said the Chinese government has decided to provided humanitarian assistance to drought affected areas in the Horn of Africa.

The ambassador said the humanitarian assistance worth 90 million Chinese yuan (about 14.06 million U.S. dollars) would be provided to Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.

He said China is always on Africa's side to support African governments and people during crises.

The relations between China and Ethiopia has been developing from time to time, he said, adding China is committed to further enhancing its ties and cooperation with Ethiopia, the ambassador said.

China and Ethiopia have been cooperating in infrastructure development, culture and education sectors.

He said the trade volume between the two countries reached about 1.48 billion dollars last year. Ethiopia's export to China has been growing from year to year, and it is growing faster, the Chinese envoy told reporters.

He said Ethiopia has been playing an important role in regional peace building of Africa, especially in Sudan. The ambassador noted the role Ethiopia has been playing in climate change issues globally. Gu said China is keen to support Ethiopia while implementing its five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP). "We always consider Ethiopia is one of the most important partners in Africa," he said. "We have been mobilizing more resources to further promote the relation between the two countries," said Gu.

According to the ambassador, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles would visit China and there would be fruitful discussions with Chinese officials in terms of enhancing relations between the two countries. Regarding the drought in the Horn of Africa countries, the ambassador said the people and government of China are much concerned with the situation in the region. The Chinese government is holding consultations with concerned parties to provide humanitarian assistance to Somalia, he said.