China's six ministries held a joint press conference
Wednesday afternoon. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the forum, to be
held from Nov. 3rd to 5th, will be beneficial to the fundamental interests of
China and Africa and their relations.
Xu Jinghu, director for Asia of Chinese Foreign
Ministry said, "The theme of the upcoming forum is Friendship, Peace,
Cooperation and Development. At the summit, Chinese and African leaders will
review the achievements of friendly Sino-African cooperation in the past 50
years."
Economic cooperation between China and Africa has
developed rapidly, particularly over the past decade. Ministry of Commerce
statistics show that two-way trade rocketed from 4 billion US dollars in 1995 to
some 40 billion dollars in 2005.
Zhou Yabin, director for Asia- Africa of Chinese
Ministry of Commerce said, "Annual bilateral trade volume is expected to reach
50 billion dollars by the end of 2006. We will seek more economic opportunities
during the November forum."
China and African countries will also work out
blueprints for future cooperation in various fields and exchange views on major
international issues. Around 50 African heads of state or government will attend
the China-Africa summit.
The China-Africa cooperation forum will be the third
summit of its kind since 2000. Jointly established by China and African
countries, the forum has become a mechanism for collective dialogue and
cooperation to help cope with new challenges and to facilitate common
development.
(Source: CCTV.com)
