South African President Jacob Zuma said the rapid growth in trade and economic relations between China and Africa makes the partnership with China the best ever international engagement the African continent has developed with any region.[Special coverage]
Addressing business executives from both China and Africa in Johannesburg, Friday, the South African President said Africa had received the most tangible results from the China-Africa friendship.
"We expect trade to reach 300 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. The Johannesburg Summit is meeting against this progress on the economic front. We are centred on advancing politics, economic cooperation and the people-to-people relations as well as energy, natural resources and trade and finance cooperation," Zuma said.
"We have facts to prove that Africa is rising. We are growing steadily at 5 percent in the last decade. In the last five years, 30 percent of all the world's oil and gas discoveries have been in Africa. Africa is growing rapidly and Africa is a new market for consumer goods," Zuma added.
Zuma praised the Chinese approach to its economic relations with Africa, saying building industrial parks, technology parks and increasing the transfer of skills, would create economic growth.
Zuma said the 10-point plan proposed by the Chinese President at the Summit was an "exhaustive plan" that would enable Africa to benefit from an industrial growth backed by China.
Also responding to the Chinese proposal during the Africa-China Business Council, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the African Union Chairman, said the announcement by China was a "tremendous effort" by China to ensure that all African regions benefit equitably from the partnership with China.
"Industrialization is not an end on itself. It must be complemented by trade. China will also try to improve the quality of its processed products," Mugabe said. "We are happy that China is committed to achieve these objectives."
Some 400 business leaders from China and Africa, including some of 14 Chief Executive Officers of 14 Fortune 500 companies in the world, attended the Business Summit held concurrently with FOCAC.
