ADDIS ABABA, May 6 -- China and Ethiopia agreed on Tuesday to promote their comprehensive cooperative partnership to an even higher level and bring more benefits to the people of both countries.

In a joint statement issued during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit, the two sides applauded their historical friendship, noted their deepening cooperation with satisfaction, and vowed to continue to maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen mutual trust and enhance practical cooperation, in order to bring their relations to an even higher level and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

The two sides reiterated their commitment to support each other on issues concerning each other's core interest, including national sovereignty, territorial integrity, stability and development, the statement said.

China expressed its support for Ethiopia's efforts to strengthen its federal system and develop its economy, while Ethiopia reaffirmed its commitment to the one-China policy and support all the efforts by the Chinese government to realize national reunification, it said.

The two sides agreed to strengthen exchanges of governance experience and promote mutual cooperation through multiple channels including central and local governments, legislative bodies and political parties, according to the statement.

On economy, the two sides reiterated their commitment to further strengthen cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure development, manufacturing, telecommunications, industrial park development, resources development, agriculture and other fields.

The Chinese government expressed its commitment to encourage and support Ethiopia's export to China, and pledged to continue to provide assistance to Ethiopia's economic and social development, support Chinese enterprises to invest in Ethiopia, and encourage Chinese financial institutions to actively explore the possibility of providing financial support to Ethiopia's railway, road, electric power and other major development projects.

In addition, China committed itself to boosting investment flow to Ethiopia, and to providing all-round support for the development of industrial zones and special economic zones in Ethiopia, which included supporting financing and incentives to those Chinese firms, the statement said.

Ethiopia pledged to provide the required legal, institutional and incentives and other required conditions, and both sides confirmed that the successful development of industrial zones and special economic zones is a condition for successful industrialization.

The two sides expressed their readiness to further deepen people-to-people relations through strong exchanges in culture, education, science and technology, health, sports, tourism, aviation and human resources development, the statement said.

Moreover, they reaffirmed their readiness to promote closer ties between the youth, women, civic organizations and academic institutions of the two countries, and Ethiopia welcomed the establishment of the Chinese Cultural Center and a Confucius institute in Addis Ababa University.

The two sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in international affairs and strengthen coordination and collaboration in the United Nations and other multilateral forums over matters of mutual interest.

They highly applauded the friendly cooperation between China and Africa, and appreciated the vital role that the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has been playing in promoting the development of the China-Africa relationship, the statement said.

The two sides agreed to work more closely to fully implement the outcomes of the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC in furtherance of the development of the new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa.

Li arrived here on Sunday for a visit to the East African nation and the headquarters of the African Union based in the Ethiopian capital.

The Chinese premier will also visit Nigeria, Angola and Kenya during his four-nation Africa tour.