China and Africa have carried out a series of cooperation goals to implement follow-up actions of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum and gained fruitful outcome, a Chinese diplomat said in Beijing on August 22.

Xu Jinghu, secretary-general of the Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee and director-general of the African Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry made the remarks at the on-going Fourth Senior Officials Meeting of the cooperation forum.

Chinese and African leaders maintained a frequent exchange of visits. In 2004, four Chinese leaders, namely President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo, Vice President Zeng Qinghong and Vice Premier Huang Ju visited Africa, which is unprecedented in Sino-African history, Xu said.

She noted that Chinese government departments and non-governmental organizations, legislature and parties kept active exchange and cooperation.

China and Africa also retain close consultations and coordination in international affairs, which safeguarded the

common interests of the developing countries, she said.

Sino-African cooperation also witnessed sound growth, she said.

China offered 167 items of aid to 46 African countries from 2004 to May 2005, which contributed to the building of infrastructure projects, including roads, schools, water supply and hospitals.

The Chinese investment and two-way trade also helped to enhance Sino-African relations. Chinese direct investment to Africa reached 135 million US dollars in 2004 and 124 million US dollars in the first six months of this year, Xu said.

African exports to China is also on rise while bilateral trade volume is expanding. Sino-African trade hit 18.08 US dollars from January to June this year, up about 42.57 percent year on year.

Among that, Chinese imports from Africa was 9.62 billion US dollars, up about 39.41 percent.

Human resource training is also an important component part of the cooperation forum's follow-up action. China hosted more than 100 training programs for 2,446 African personnel in 2004, ranging from the spheres of agriculture, sanitation and health-care, education and culture, to customs and diplomatic sectors.

China plans to offer training program for more than 3,800 African personnel in 2005, according to Xu.

Source: Xinhua