The first-ever African Commodities Exhibition opened in Beijing
at the International Convention Center today.
A hundred and seventy businesses from 23 African countries
including Angola, Gabon, Liberia, Sudan and Zambia are taking part
in the two-day exhibition that will showcase products such as
jewelry, textiles, minerals, construction materials, handicrafts
and agricultural commodities.
On the heels of the recently concluded Beijing Summit and Third
ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
(FOCAC), the exhibition aims to facilitate a deeper understanding
of the Chinese market as well as communications and cooperation
between Chinese and African companies.
According to Samuel A. Mitchell Jr., president of the Liberian
Business Association, the exhibition is a good platform for Liberia
to promote its products such as coco, coffee and rubber. He added
that several Chinese companies have already expressed interest in
importing these goods, and investing in hydroelectricity, timber
and manufacturing projects there. He also revealed that Liberia
signed contracts with China for the construction of a radio station
and a university relocation project during the summit.
As the world's largest integrated sugar company, Sudan's Kenana
Sugar Company is looking for Chinese partners for production,
engineering, research and development, and technology and expertise
exchange, according to Hassan Hshim Erwa, Kenana's marketing
research and product development manager. He also attended
Saturday's High-level Dialogue and Second Conference of Chinese,
African Entrepreneurs, which he praised as "a dialogue between
South and South". He added that it provided impetus for further
cooperation between China and African countries in economy,
culture, and, more important, poverty relief.
"China is a good model of development for my country and other
African countries to follow," Hassan emphasized.
"The oil and power cooperation between China and Sudan is
booming," said Mohamed Ahmed Abdel Gadir, contracts manager with
Higleig Petroleum Services and Investment Company. "For example,
one of our partners, CPECC (China Petroleum Engineering and
Construction Corp.), a subsidiary of CNPC (China National Petroleum
Corporation), successfully completed oilfield production facilities
in the Mugled basin. These facilities have an annual output of 10
million tons and set a record in installation speeds!"
"Besides the oilfield, we are in the process of encouraging more
Chinese companies to work with us and to invest more in the
infrastructure and chemical sectors in Sudan."
Dr. Gertrude M. Mampwe, a specialist in traditional Zambian
herbal therapy, hopes that through increased cooperation with
Chinese partners, Zambian traditional herbal medicine, which has a
thousand-year-old history, will be as popular in China as
traditional Chinese medicine is in her country.
"In my clinic, we use a lot of Chinese medicine to treat
patients. They are very effective. I also once worked with Chinese
doctors and nurses who are very professional and dedicated to their
work."
The Beijing Summit, which ended on Sunday, saw the signing of 16
agreements worth US$1.9 billion and covering a range of sectors
including infrastructure facilities, communications, technology and
equipment, energy and resources development, and finance and
insurance.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday pledged to boost
Sino-African trade to US$100 billion by 2010 while promising to
open China's markets wider to African exports.
At the end of last year, China's investment in Africa was a
whopping US$6.27 billion.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Li Shen, November 6, 2006)