Africa has "a need and a good opportunity" for full collaboration with China to achieve sustainable development, a special envoy from the continent said yesterday in Beijing.

"Today, African countries, with a new spirit, are striving hard with the aim of realizing rejuvenation and development," Ethiopian Ambassador Haile-Kiros Gessesse told the opening of the two-day Fifth Senior Officials Meeting, which is a prelude to the China-Africa summit this weekend.

"Apart from the collective endeavours of African countries, there is a need and a good opportunity for full co-operation and meaningful engagement from our friends and partners such as China to realize these objectives."

Speaking as a special envoy for Ethiopia, the co-chair country of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC), Gessesse said Sino-African ties, based on "the very nature of friendship, equality, solidarity and common development," have passed the test of time, winning the hearts of many.

He singled out China's preferential market access for some African products, which has resulted in a rise in trade volume and continuous improvement in the trade balance.

Trade between China and African countries increased from a mere US$10 million in the 1950s to nearly US$39.7 billion last year, when African exports to China soared to US$21 billion, according to official statistics.

"Believe me, if expanded to other commodities, this opportunity is tantamount to development assistance, as market access has also been an urgent call from developing countries including those of Africa, in the global market," he said.

He revealed that in the draft Beijing Action Plan (2007-09), to be discussed during the summit, China commits to opening its market wider and providing zero-tariff treatment to more African products.

"This, by itself, has great potential to expand Sino-African trade and economic relations for common benefit," he told senior officials from China and 48 African countries.

Gessesse also said that though endowed with rich natural resources and being a huge potential market, the efforts of African countries for sustainable development cannot be realized without skilled manpower.

"Therefore, we also largely believe that China's continued support in this regard would be vital in the economic development of African countries," the ambassador said.

The Senior Officials Meeting is the fifth in the framework of the FOCAC. It will review the preparation work for the Beijing Summit and the Third FOCAC Ministerial Conference scheduled from tomorrow to Sunday.

The summit, the largest and highest-level gathering of Chinese and African leaders, will push friendship to a new high, Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun said yesterday.

Chinese and African officials had reached consensus on the drafts of an action plan and Declaration of Beijing Summit of FOCAC the two main documents of the summit during a special Senior Officials Meeting in Beijing in September.

Founded in 2000, FOCAC is a mechanism for collective dialogue and co-operation to cope with new challenges and facilitate common development.

(China Daily 11/02/2006 page1)