Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Carlos Gomes said on Tuesday that the upcoming Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will inject renewed vitality into the cooperation between Africa and China.

In an interview with Xinhua, Gomes said China has scored amazing achievements since it carried out the policy of reform and opening-up by the end of the 1970s, adding that Africa should learn from China's experience and mode of development to avoid being marginalized amid globalization.

Gomes made the remarks prior to FOCAC's Beijing summit scheduled for Nov. 3-5, which will be the highest-level and the largest meeting between Chinese and African leaders, since China and African countries started to forge cooperative ties in the 1950s.

Some 30 African heads of state or government and their Chinese counterparts will attend the conference, with aims to blueprint the future of China-Africa cooperation after 50 years of traditional friendship.

The summit is a good opportunity for Africa to have a deep understanding of the Chinese government's administrative strategy and Africa policy, as well as an opportunity for African leaders to discuss the continent's developmental strategy, Gomes said.

He added that the cooperation between China and Africa has been an active factor in their bilateral relations.

"Gradually, China will become an investor that has the greatest potential on the African continent," said the prime minister. "It will help Africa realize the Millennium Development Goals."

On relations between the two countries, Gomes said China has become a strategic cooperative partner of Guinea-Bissau, adding that he is looking forward to the prospects of their cooperation, which will become more active, efficient, and fruitful.

The bilateral relations have been developing rapidly and their cooperation has yielded encouraging results since Guinea-Bissau and China resumed diplomatic ties in 1998, he said.
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Gomes said China has provided unselfish assistance to Guinea-Bissau without any political precondition, so his country does not worry about the cooperation between the two sides.

Under the new situation, he said, Guinea-Bissau and China should discuss ways of cooperation in various fields which benefit the two countries, thus bringing their friendly relations to a new stage.

(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2006)