Photo taken on June 29, 2017 shows passengers disembark a train running on the Chinese-built light rail in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. The light rail has serviced more than 65 million passengers since service was launched in September 2015. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

ADDIS ABABA, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies have created more than 28,300 jobs in various sectors during the past five-year period in Ethiopia, an official at the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) told Xinhua Friday.

According to Mekonen Hailu, EIC Communications Director, a total of 28,391 jobs were created by 279 Chinese companies in the east African country during the period of January 2012 to January 2017, of which 20,072 were permanent while the remaining 8,319 were temporary jobs.

Out of these jobs, over 19,000 were created in Ethiopia's manufacturing sector as the sector is leading its African peers by attracting companies from China both in numbers and financial capital, with a total number of 276 projects both under implementation and operation phase during the stated period, Hailu said.

The data from the Ethiopian Investment Commission further indicated that the 279 Chinese companies that were set operational during the reported period are additional to 100 other Chinese companies that are now currently under implementation in the country.

The 279 Chinese companies have a registered financial capital of over 13.16 billion Ethiopian birr (over 572 million U.S. dollars), it was indicated.

Construction, service and agricultural sectors are the other sectors hosting a great number of Chinese companies in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation.

Passengers arrive at the Nairobi train station in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 9, 2017. Nearly 12,000 passengers had traveled on the newly launched Standard Gauge Railways (SGR) linking Kenya's port city Mombasa with its capital Nairobi in the first week after the launch on June 1, according to the operator. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

According to recent data from Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry, Chinese companies have invested around 4 billion U.S. dollars in Ethiopia during the last two decades, creating job opportunities for over 111,000 Ethiopians on permanent and temporary basis.

China is also Ethiopia's largest trading partner, in which the two countries' trade reached 6.37 billion dollars in 2015, while growing on average 22.2 percent annually for the last several years.