China-Africa expo provides new platform for industrial capacity cooperation

BEIJING - An upcoming exposition will create a new platform for Chinese and African businesses to strengthen industrial capacity cooperation, officials said Monday.

The China-Africa Industrial Capacity Cooperation Exposition will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, from Dec 13 to 16, organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), according to Chen Zhou, vice-chairman of CCPIT, at a press conference.

Preparatory work has been basically completed for the expo, which is being organized by the CCPIT in Africa for the first time, according to Chen.

"Altogether 56 Chinese companies will take part in the expo to showcase high-quality products and advanced technology in railway and road construction, infrastructure, telecommunications, machinery, manufacturing and farm produce processing," Chen said.

"The expo will provide a new platform for Chinese and African businesses to conduct full-scale communication and deepen cooperation, and encourage more Chinese firms to enter Africa and speed up its industrialization process," Chen said.

"While Africa has rich natural and human resources and stands at the starting period of industrialization, China has the technology, equipment, talent and funds that can help Africa realize independent, sustainable development," he said.

Michael Kinyanjui, Kenya's ambassador to China, said the expo aimed to attract local and regional delegates from over 30 African countries.

"We believe the expo will add impetus to the ongoing China-Africa collaboration in trade, investments, and also cooperation in industrialization," Kinyanjui said.

Chen hailed the win-win cooperation between China and Africa in recent years, speaking of rapid growth in trade and investment.

The two sides saw their trade volume rise 19 percent year-on-year to $85.3 billion in the first half of this year, when Chinese firms' non-financial direct investment in Africa increased 22 percent year-on-year to $1.6 billion, according to Chen.

The China Africa Development Fund, an equity investment fund managed by China Development Bank, has authorized $4.5 billion of investment in 91 projects in 36 African nations since its establishment in 2007, according to Zhou Chao, vice-president of the fund.

"With investment areas ranging from industrial capacity and infrastructure to energy and agriculture, those projects are estimated to drive more than $20 billion of investment from Chinese enterprises after their completion," Zhou said.