BEIJING, Sept. 18, 2002 (Xinhuanet) -- China on Monday voiced its support for African countries to achieve the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

    China also called on developed countries to help the continent fight disease, give more aid, cancel or reduce debts by African nations, improve market access for African countries and bring applicable technologies to the continent.

    "We support African countries in their unremitting efforts to achieve all NEPAD objectives... to realize Africa's renaissance," Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said at a high-level UN General Assembly session.

    In July, the first summit of the African Union decided to incorporate NEPAD into its framework, thus making it an important document for African development and providing an institutional guarantee for its gradual implementation, Tang said.

    As a developing country, China has, within the context of south-south co-operation, initiated and successfully hosted the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation - Ministerial Conference Beijing 2000 and established relevant follow-up programmes, he noted.

    Tang called on the international community, especially industrialized countries, to meet their obligations and bring concrete assistance to Africa to boost its development and fight against such diseases as HIV/AIDS.

    "The international community, especially developed countries, have the responsibility and obligation to adopt more active and effective measures to reform the existing international economic, trading and financing systems," he said.

    The Monterey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development, held in March in Mexico, calls for, in explicit terms, an increase in development funds and the elimination of extreme poverty.

    The just-concluded World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa, has also reiterated the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," he noted.

    "All countries in the world have an obligation to translate the political will into concrete actions," he added.Enditem