African countries are looking forward to carrying out all-round cooperation with China, said Mohamed El Mamy, secretary-general of the Mauritania Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Wednesday.

Mohamed El Mamy, also the head of African industry and commerce group, made the remark at a Sino-Africa trade conference in central China's Hubei province.

Together with Mohamed El Mamy, some 49 high-ranking trade officials and business people from 21 African countries, are attending a series of exchange programs and forums in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei.

They have put forward more than 100 economic and trade projects for their Chinese counterparts, covering infrastructure development, automobiles, agriculture, medicine and electronics, according to the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).

Mohamed El Mamy said it was his first visit to China. "Chinese products are popular in African countries," he said.

"The exchange projects between us and Chinese trade officials will build a bridge for the communications of enterprises of the two sides," he said, adding that Africa welcomes Chinese companies to invest in the continent.

"Over the past two days, I have signed a dozen of contacts with the local companies. Business people are confident that the two countries (Djibouti) and China will further boost the economic and trade cooperation," said Abdallah Mohamed from Djibouti.

Boukhalfa Hamiti, director of the Algeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), told Xinhua his trip to China was fruitful.

"The close relationship between ACCI and CCPIT will benefit the development and cooperation between the two countries in the future," he said.

In recent years, trade and business between China and Africa witnessed booming development. In 2006, Wuhan scored US$369.4 million in trade volume with African countries, up 60 percent over the same period of 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2007)