Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi vows to increase co-operation with Africa despite the wave of uprisings in the north of the continent and criticism of China's investment strategy.
At a press conference in Beijing yesterday during the annual session of the National People's Congress, Yang said that despite 'uncertainties and instabilities', Africa was generally peaceful and stable.
Yang said China had very good co-operation with African countries and the African Union (AU).
He said work on the China-funded 51,887-square-metre AU conference centre and office complex in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, would be completed this year. It is the second-largest Chinese assistance project in Africa, after the Tanzania-Zambia Railway.
Beijing's increasing influence in Africa has drawn criticism from the West in recent years. Risk management and investment analysts say the continuing Libyan turmoil would force Beijing to take a harder look at the dark side of its 'no strings attached' African investment strategy.
Commerce Minister Chen Deming said yesterday on a separate occasion that his ministry would soon send a work group to investigate the situation in Libya, where the political uprising prompted China to evacuate more than 35,000 nationals.
Chen said there was no Chinese company in the crisis-torn country, but added '29 Chinese companies have signed the construction contracts for building 50 projects, worth a total of US$18.8 billion'.