China-Africa cooperation aims to build Africa's capacity - Chinese premier

SHAMM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday described his country's efforts to deepen cooperation with Africa as having an ultimate goal of promoting capacity building for the continent.

"The ultimate goal of cooperation with Africa is to build up the self-development capacity of African countries," Wen said at a press conference at the 4th ministerial conference of the Forum on China-African Cooperation (FOCAC) that opened on Sunday.

"The development of ties between China and Africa is not a new phenomenon. As early as in the last century, China supported the Africans in their efforts to build roads and railways and sent medical teams to African countries," Wen said.

"During that period, China did not take a single drop of oil or a single ton of mineral," the Chinese premier said in response to a question about the criticism that China is primarily interested in Africa for trade for Africa's raw materials and minerals.

"We paid great importance to better living conditions and human resources training in Africa," Wen added.

"Take a look at the changes that Africa has witnessed since 2006 when the eight measures were launched at the Beijing Summit, and you will see trade volume between the two entities surged from some 50 billion U.S. dollars to over 100 billion, and the direct investment by Chinese enterprises in Africa increased by 77 percent in the first three quarters of this year," said Wen.

"Hundreds of millions of African people benefit from the schools, hospitals and anti-malaria centers created thanks to the support of China," added the Chinese premier.

Earlier on Sunday, Wen announced eight new measures the Chinese government will take to strengthen China-Africa cooperation in the next three years, in an address to the opening session of the ministerial conference.