On the morning of January 27, 2012, at the invitation of AU and the government of Ethiopia, Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), left Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the 18th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia and pay an official goodwill visit to Ethiopia.

Jia's entourage including Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, MOC International Trade Representative & Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng, Chairman of China Development Bank Chen Yuan, Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun and Deputy Secretary General of the CPPCC Wang Shenghong left Beijing by the same plane.