2024-06-13
38 分钟This is the sound of factory workers performing a Chinese marching drill.
Dressed in red tracksuits, they parade in perfect formation across the factory yard.
But these employees aren't Chinese.
They're Ethiopian.
They work in a Chinese-owned shoe factory in Addis Ababa.
There was considerable fanfare in 2012 when production started at the Huajian facility.
It was supposed to mark an important step in Ethiopia's ambition to become a middle-income country by 2025.
The industrial park was funded by China and modelled on its experience,
with a familiar emphasis on state-led manufacturing and infrastructure building.
It wasn't the only way in which Ethiopia was taking inspiration from the Chinese development story.
Take the 70 infrastructure megaprojects that got underway between 2006 and 2018.
These included construction of the Ethio-Djibouti railway,
This railway follows Chinese construction,
operation and maintenance standards,
and Chinese drivers have been instrumental in training Ethiopian counterparts.
Plus an airport expansion, new highways,
a light rail transport system and a sports stadium for the capital.
All with the help of $14.8 billion of loans from China.
When new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed swept to power in 2018,
it was thought he was trying to reduce the country's dependence on Beijing.