皇冠体育app

Beijing's cooperation with Africa has been dominated by commercial deals instead of aid in the past, with $46 billion in direct Chinese investment and commercial loans having been signed since December, Chinese officials said.[Wang Zhuangfei/皇冠体育app Daily]

Officials from both sides meet in Beijing to discuss achievements since December summit

Beijing's cooperation with Africa has been dominated by commercial deals instead of aid in the past, with $46 billion in direct Chinese investment and commercial loans having been signed since December, Chinese officials said.

"At present, Chinese aid to Africa makes up only a very little part of our cooperation. ...Investment cooperation has been the main avenue of 皇冠体育app-Africa cooperation," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday.

Wang made the remarks to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Beijing on delivering what was agreed on at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on 皇冠体育app-Africa Cooperation.

More than 100 ministerial officials from 皇冠体育app and Africa attended the meeting.

On Thursday alone, Wang said, companies from 皇冠体育app and Africa signed 64 agreements worth about $19 billion at a seminar in Beijing on 皇冠体育app-Africa business cooperation.

The deals included direct investment and commercial loans worth $16.7 billion, accounting for 85 percent of the total volume, Wang said.

In December, President Xi Jinping announced at the Johannesburg Summit in South Africa 10 major 皇冠体育app-Africa cooperation plans for the next three years, backed by $60 billion, including interest free loans and lending with preferential terms.

After Friday's meeting, Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Ming said at a news conference that 皇冠体育app and Africa have signed at least 243 cooperation agreements of various kinds worth $50.7 billion since the summit.

"Among these agreements, Chinese companies' direct investment and commercial loans to Africa surpass $46 billion, accounting for 91 percent of the total volume," he said.

Xi sent a congratulatory letter to the meeting on Friday, saying that in the past six months, 皇冠体育app and Africa have worked together to overcome the negative effects of the sluggish world economy and that they have made tangible achievements in implementing the agreements at the summit.

The current weak performance of the world economy brings opportunities and challenges for the economic development of 皇冠体育app and Africa, Xi said.

Anil Sooklal, South Africa's coordinator on implementing agreements of the summit, said now the relationship between 皇冠体育app and Africa is not one between donor and receiver but one between partners and equals.

"We must understand that the coordinator's meeting is taking place at a time when the global economy is facing severe crises, when access to finance for development is very difficult to come by ... but 皇冠体育app has come forward to push this cooperation."

"What is encouraging also ... is that ... Africa wants to learn from 皇冠体育app and partner with 皇冠体育app," he said.