China will further open up its market to Africa by increasing from 190 to over 440 the number of tariff-free import items from the least developed African countries having diplomatic ties with China.

Chinese President Hu Jintao made the remarks in Beijing Saturday when addressing the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

The decision is another fresh effort of China to facilitate its trade with Africa, which rocketed to nearly US$40 billion in 2005.

China, the world's fourth largest economy, and Africa, an important developing continent, are highly complementary in economy.

A raft of China-made daily necessities and technology equipment have been sold to Africa these years while an increasing number of Chinese people flew there on vacation and for sightseeing.

By the end of 2005, China had helped establish more than 720 projects for Africa, offered over 18,000 governmental scholarships, dispatched more than 15,000 medical personnel, and treated some 170 million patients in Africa.

Gobind Nankani, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region, told Xinhua on Friday that a completely new trade relationship being shaped by China and African countries will give African economies "a major boost".

World Bank statistics show that five years ago, total trade between China and Africa was US$10 billion. Nankani predicts that it could be as high as US$50 billion this year.

He said that China's investment in Africa is also growing fast, already sharing 10 percent of all direct foreign investment in Africa.