Sino-African trade to top 100 billion USD in 2008

According to the press release Ministry of Commerce of China on Dec. 21, China and Africa will achieve the goal of 100 billion USD of bilateral trade this year, two years ahead of the schedule, after nine years of at least 30 percent of growth annually since 2000 when the bilateral trade topped 10 billion USD.

From January to October 2008, the trade between China and Africa reached 92.7 billion USD. In 2007, the bilateral trade valued 73.3 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 32 percent.

In line with China's commitments at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in November 2006, China has granted zero tariff treatment to 466 categories of imports from 30 least developed African countries. By the end of 2007, China had imported 540 million USD of African goods under favorable terms.

Some 1,000 Chinese companies are operating in 48 African countries in non-financial sectors such as trade, processing, resource development, transportation, agriculture. African investors are also tapping the Chinese market.

By the end of June, 2008, China had signed bilateral aid agreements with 48 African countries and framework agreements on preferential loans with 20 African countries. The design of Africa Union Headquarters Center has been completed and the construction will begin within this year. The China-Africa Development Fund which was initiated by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Beijing Summit in 2006 and launched in June 2007 to support Chinese enterprises' investment in Africa has invested some 80 million USD in six projects.

China has also written off debt in the form of all the interest-free government loans that matured at the end of 2005 owed by 32 heavily indebted poor countries and the least developed countries in Africa that have diplomatic relations with China.

Source: People's Daily Online