BEIJING, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government on Tuesday launched a special fund of one billion U.S. dollars to finance trade and investment by Chinese companies in Africa, in a fresh effort to facilitate Sino-African business relations.

    The first batch of the China-Africa Development Fund is financed by the China Development Bank (CDB), and the fund will eventually expand to five billion dollars with the participation of more Chinese investors.

    The fund was launched at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China's top legislature in downtown Beijing.

    Officially approved by the government on March 14, the China-Africa Development Fund is to promote economic cooperation between China and Africa and advance Africa's economic development.

    It would invest in Chinese companies that had set up operations in Africa and provide advice for those planning to invest there, said Gao Jian, deputy director of the CDB.

    But the fund would seek neither the majority nor the largest shareholding in the businesses, said Gao.

    The fund would invest in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure, including power supply, transportation, telecommunications as well as urban water supply and drainage.

    Natural resources, including oil, gas and mineral resources, would also gain financial support from the fund.

    Analysts said the China-Africa Development Fund would encourage Chinese enterprises to expand investment in Africa and promote the continent's economic development.

    China is the third largest trade partner of Africa, while Africa is an important destination of overseas investment made by Chinese enterprises.

    The China-African Development Fund is one of the eight measures announced by the Chinese President Hu Jintao at last November's Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation that China would take to forge a new type of China-Africa strategic partnership.

    At the Shanghai meeting of the African Development Bank in May, Zhou Xiaochuan, president of the central bank, the People's Bank of China, stressed that China and Africa should strengthen financial cooperation.

    He said in addition to continuing to develop traditional trade, China should also pay more attention to sustainable economic development in Africa.