China issues white paper on co-op with Africa

BEIJING -- The Chinese government on Thursday issued a white paper on China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation, underlining latest achievements of the mutually-beneficial cooperation between China and African countries.

The white paper, released by the Information Office of China's State Council, introduces facts of trade development, investment expansion, agricultural cooperation, infrastructure construction and other fields of cooperation between China and Africa since 2009.

"China-Africa economic and trade development has improved people's livelihoods and diversified economic development in African countries, and provided strong support for China's socio-economic development," the white paper says.

The cooperation between China and Africa also contributed to promoting South-South cooperation and balancing global economic development, according to the white paper.

Through the joint efforts of China and Africa, economic and trade cooperation is enjoying a more consolidated foundation and better mechanisms than before, with new common interests and growth points constantly emerging, it says.

In spite of sluggish global economic recovery in recent years, the trade between China and Africa has maintained the momentum of comparatively rapid growth.

In 2009, China became Africa's largest trade partner. In the following two years, the scale of bilateral trade expanded rapidly.

In 2012, the total volume of China-Africa trade reached $198.49 billion, a year-on-year growth of 19.3 percent, the paper says.

The total bilateral trade volume, China's exports to Africa and China's imports from Africa all reached new highs last year.