BEIJING, Nov. 2 -- "Every time a well is dug and water pipes are installed, I am so happy and proud to watch local residents from remote areas bring clean water home with basins, pails and their smiles," Zhou Qiaofang, deputy general manger of China Zhonghao Nigeria Ltd, told the Global Times.

    Zhou's company's projects concentrate on areas in Nigeria with a shortage of drinking water or that suffer from waterborne diseases, and his company's water-supply projects have significantly improved the basic living conditions in Nigeria's rural areas and small towns where it is present.

    Besides water-supply projects, Chinese companies in Africa also invest in many other infrastructure-construction projects such as highways, country roads, dams and railways, as well as in the fields of light and heavy industries, telecommunications and commodities trading.

    In 2008, the total trade between China and Africa stood at 106.84 billion U.S.dollars, a year-on-year increase of 45.1 percent, said Liu Zhenmin, deputy permanent representative of China to the United Nations, in his October 20 statement to the Plenary Meeting of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly.

    Both State-owned and private companies that invest in Africa have played an active role in creating job opportunities, paying taxes, and increasing local residents' incomes.