China welcomes efforts by other countries and international organizations working to support development in Africa, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China appreciated and supported any efforts aimed at securing peace, stability and development in Africa and is willing to work with the global community achieve these goals.

The remarks followed reports from Germany quoting German Chancellor Angela Merkel as saying the European Union would make African development a priority in 2007 and that Germany would lay the groundwork for a summit that would bring together African and European leaders.

The EU is set to wrap up its EU-Africa Week, a series of meetings and discussions on Africa aimed at covering issues ranging from politics to culture. The event is part of the EU's European Development Days, a collection of events focused on European efforts to assist the developing world.

China rolled out its own red carpet for 48 delegations from 48 African countries earlier this moth for the Summit of China-Africa Co-operation Forum. The event featured the signing of a series of agreements worth US$1.9 billion.

In her statement yesterday, Jiang reiterated Beijing's consistent stance on not interfering in other countries' internal affairs in the pursuit of foreign relations, saying China respected the path to development that African nations had chosen.

"We will never impose our own ideology, values or preferred methods for development on other countries, especially African countries, " said Jiang.

She said China thinks development is a priority for Africa, which faces severe challenges in terms of alleviating poverty and illnesses.

She urged the international community to pay more attention to Africa's stability and development.

"Sino-Africa co-operation is not targeting any third party and will not threaten the interests of any other country," Jiang said.