[TankGirl]

M&C News:

Beijing - China and African countries declared their aim to deepen their cooperation with a 'new type of strategic partnership' on Sunday and pledged to double their trade volume to 100 billion dollars by the year 2010. The declaration came at the end of the two-day Forum on China- Africa Cooperation in Beijing, the largest-ever summit between the two sides involving China and 48 African countries, and drafted plans for further development of their ties until 2009.

Prior to issuing the declaration, the Chinese companies and African governments and firms had signed a total of 14 business deals worth 1.9 billion dollars. On Saturday, China pledged to double its development aid and in order to boost trade and investments in Africa, said it would set up a special fund of five billion dollars, comprised of three billion dollars in low-interest credits and two billion dollars' worth of export credits over the next three years.

China, which has seen a 30 per cent rise in trade with Africa annually since 2000 and this year it is expected to exceed 50 billion dollars, has been criticized for co-operating with repressive regimes in Africa. In addition, China said it would consider further debt forgiveness for poor African countries. To date, China has already written off some 10.9 billion yuan (1.3 billion dollars) iof debts. By 2009, five trade and economic zones are to be established in Africa, while at the same time, China is to provide training to 15,000 Africans, send agricultural experts to Africa and set up 10 agro-technology centres in Africa.

The number of scholarships for African students to study in China will be doubled to 4,000 per year by the year 2009, while China also pledged to build 100 schools and 30 hospitals in Africa. It also said it would provide 300 million yuan for the fight against malaria.

China seems to be playing its cards wisely. They have the money and the know-how to boost the industrial development in Africa and to get a good hold of its natural resources in the process. And those resources in turn will help China a lot on its route to become the leading superpower on the planet.