He was addressing a press conference detailing the progress and achievements under the nine cooperation programmes China announced during the 8th ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held three years ago in Senegal.

These nine programmes cover poverty reduction, agricultural development, trade and investment promotion, digital innovation, green development and capacity building, among others.

Tang said China and Africa will discuss cooperation plans during the FOCAC 2024 Summit, scheduled to be held in Beijing from September 4 to 6.

As of 2023 end, China's direct investment stock in Africa exceeded $40 billion, making it one of Africa's major sources of foreign investment, he said.

China-Africa trade reached $282.1 billion last year, up by nearly 11 per cent compared with 2021.

In the past three years, Chinese companies have created more than 1.1 million jobs in Africa in sectors like agriculture, processing and manufacturing and trade logistics, and helped increase the continent’s tax revenues and foreign exchange earnings from exports, state-controlled media outlets reported.

Chinese companies have also implemented a large number of clean energy projects in Africa.

Shen Xiang, director of the West Asia and Africa department under the ministry of commerce, said China has been actively exploring new models of financial cooperation with Africa and is committed to providing support for the sustainable economic development of African countries.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)