China to help finance African infrastructure

Armed with enormous cash reserves, China has said it will continue to lend financial support to many emerging economies. And one driving force behind this push has been the China Development Bank, which is planning to expand its financial assistance to Africa.

Seeking stronger Sino-African ties has become one of the major themes of the Chinese President's visit to Durban.

The China Development Bank has signed a ground breaking agreement with South Africa's freight rail company Transnet, providing a $5 billion to help improve Africa's infrastructure.

Zheng Zhijie, president of China Development Bank, said, "We hope we can play a bigger role in pushing forward Africa's infrastructure construction using our advantages in mid-and-long term projects. We hope China's experience will be helpful."

The China Development Bank, the country's largest foreign investment and financing bank, has provided various forms of financial support to more than 30 African countries, having a credit balance of $16 billion.

Experts say cooperation between China and Africa will grow deeper in the future, with more sectors such as heavy industry and equipment manufacturing being covered.

China has pledged to provide an additional $20 billion in loans over three years to support Africa's infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing and the development of small and medium- sized enterprises.