Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao called on Thursday for joint efforts to build a new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa.

"China will continue to work with Africa and make innovative efforts in keeping with the trend of the times to widen China-Africa cooperation, enrich and inject new vitality into it,"the Chinese president said when addressing the National Assembly in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

Hu made the remarks one day after he started a two-day visit to the west African country at the invitation of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.

In order to achieve this goal, Hu put forward a five-point proposal in his speech entitled "Work Together to Forge A New Type of China-Africa Strategic Partnership."

-- To build a new type of strategic partnership, China and Africa should strengthen political mutual trust.

"China will maintain close contact with African countries at the leadership level and promote communication and exchanges between governments, parliaments, political parties and non-governmental organizations of our two sides to enhance mutual understanding and friendship," Hu said.

"China is committed to the effective function of the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation and will continue to enhance its cooperation with the African Union and other sub-regional organizations and regional multilateral institutions in Africa to strengthen collective dialogue, broaden consensus and expand common interests," the president said.

-- China and Africa should expand win-win economic cooperation.

With rich resources and market potentials on Africa's part and available effective practices and practical know-how gained in the course of modernization on China's part, China-Africa cooperation has broad prospects, Hu said.

"To enlarge the scope of China-Africa cooperation and diversify ways of conducting such cooperation and enable both sides to draw on their comparative strengths is in our mutual interests," said the Chinese president.

"China will make continued efforts to extend our cooperation in trade to investment, technology and project contracting, and to encourage companies and other economic entities to join our governments in conducting economic cooperation," the president said.

Reiterating China's commitment to providing assistance to African countries to the best of its ability, Hu said China will also pay greater attention to knowledge-based cooperation with Africa.

-- To build a new type of strategic partnership, China and Africa should increase cultural interaction.

Both endowed with splendid cultures, China and Africa have made important contribution to the progress of human civilization, Hu said, adding that China and Africa should strengthen cultural exchanges and draw on each other's culture to increase mutual understanding and friendship.

"China supports enhanced cooperation between cultural institutions, media, academic groups and institutions of higher learning of the two sides and would be happy to host cultural festivals, arts exhibitions and sports events with Africa," Hu said.

-- To build a new type of strategic partnership, China and Africa should strengthen security cooperation.

Hu said China and African countries should strengthen exchanges and consultation and promote collective security in the international community and a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation.

"To jointly meet global challenges, China will strengthen consultation and cooperation with Africa in non-traditional security areas such as the prevention and control of major infectious diseases, bird flu and the fight against transnational crimes," Hu said.

China supports the African Union and other regional organizations and countries in Africa in their efforts to promote regional peace and will increase its input and take an active part in the UN-led peacekeeping operations in Africa, he added.

"China is ready to play a constructive role and help the African countries settle their differences and disputes," Hu said.

-- In order to build a new type of strategic partnership, China and Africa should maintain close coordination in international affairs.

Reaffirming China's appreciation for the important role played by Africa in international affairs, Hu said China and Africa shared extensive common positions and had a good tradition of cooperation on major international issues.

"To strengthen coordination and cooperation in major international affairs meets our mutual interests," he said.

"China will continue to take an active part in the building of a New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership and other mechanisms for South-South Cooperation and North-South Dialogue," Hu said.

Africa's aspiration for peace and development deserves respect and sympathy, and the international community should be more focused on Africa's development and increase assistance to Africa, said the Chinese president.

China will continue to work for more progress in UN reform to make the world body place greater emphasis on the issue of development and address as a top priority the under-representation of developing countries, including African countries, he said.

In his speech, the Chinese president also reviewed the time-honored friendship as the year of 2006 marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and African countries.

Over the past 50 years, China and Africa have increased mutual understanding, supported and helped each other, fostered profound friendship and fruitful progress has been made in China-Africa cooperation, Hu said.

The president reviewed numerous events showing the profound friendship between China and African countries.

African countries supported the restoration of the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations and Chinese and African workers built the great Tazara Railway, he said.

Bearing all these milestones of China-Africa friendship in mind, China would like to carry on the traditional friendship with Africa, strengthen comprehensive cooperation and endeavor to forge a new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa, the president said.

Hu started his current five-nation tour earlier this month. He has visited the United States, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. After Nigeria, he will head for Kenya, the last leg of his tour.

Source: Xinhua