China will spare no efforts in making careful preparations for the China-Africa Summit due to be held in Beijing in November and welcomes African countries to actively participate in the preparations, said a Chinese official here Friday.

Gu Xiaojie, deputy director-general of African Department under the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the remarks in a speech delivered at a special session of the Executive Council of the African Union (AU) .

"We are willing to send delegations to Africa in due time for consultation, and will also be glad to receive African consultation groups in China," he said.

Gu's speech focused on the development of the Forum on China- Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the preparation for the Beijing Summit and the 3rd Ministerial Conference of FOCAC, a mechanism for collective dialogue and cooperation jointly established by China and Africa to cope with new challenges and facilitate common development in the new situation.

Since the launch of FOCAC in the year 2000, two ministerial conferences have been held in Beijing and Addis Ababa respectively. Cooperation between China and Africa within the framework of FOCAC has produced fruitful result, Gu said.

In the political field, frequent exchanges of high-level visits between the two sides have been maintained and mutual trust has been deepened. In multilateral forums including the United Nations, China unswervingly supports the just positions and reasonable aspirations of Africa and works to safeguard Africa's legitimate rights and interests. China actively supports the cause of peace in Africa. So far, China has taken part in seven UN peacekeeping operations in Africa and contributed 1,295 peacekeepers.

In the field of economic cooperation, trade and social development, China has adopted a series of substantive measures to advance cooperation with Africa and has been implementing them in real earnest.

These measures include debt cancellation of up to 10.5 billion RMB yuan (around 1.3 billion U.S. dollars) for 31 least developed countries (LDC) and heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) in Africa, zero-tariff treatment to 190 items of export commodities from 29 African LDCs, the setting up of the African Human Resources Development Fund, the training of African personnel of up to 14,000 person/times, and the Status of Approved Destination for outbound Chinese tourists for 17 African countries.

Gu attributed the achievements of FOCAC to the wisdom and efforts of China and Africa, who share the desire to further strengthen FOCAC and lift the cooperation to a higher level.

"After consultation, the two sides decided to hold the FOCAC Summit and the 3rd Ministerial Conference in Beijing in early November 2006," he said.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of diplomatic relationship between the People's Republic of China and African countries. China places high value on the Beijing Summit and has kicked off the preparation work on all fronts, said the official.

In February 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao invited Heads of State or Government (HOS/G) from 47 African countries having diplomatic relations with China to attend the summit.

In March, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai jointly invited foreign ministers and ministers in charge of economic cooperation from African countries that have diplomatic ties with China to attend the 3rd Ministerial Conference.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Chairman of AU Commission Alpha Konare have received invitation to the Summit as guests of honor, with the latter having confirmed his presence.

Gu said invitation will also be extended to ministerial representatives of African countries that do not have diplomatic ties with China and representatives of some international and regional organizations to attend the summit as observers.

So far, leaders from most African countries have expressed their desire to attend the summit.

Since the beginning of this year, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Primer Wen Jiabao have visited 10 African countries. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing visited six African countries.

"Many African countries have sent high-level delegations to China," said the official.

During these exchanges of high-level visits, the two sides conducted an in-depth exchange of views on how to hold the Beijing Summit successfully, Gu added.

Source: Xinhua