With the upcoming state visit by President Hu Jintao to
Mozambique, China and the southern African country will see a
broader prospect of stable, long-standing cooperation of mutual
benefit, analysts said in Maputo on Wednesday.
Analysts believed that the two-day visit will surely promote the
development of the traditional friendship and cement the close ties
between the two countries, presenting a rosy future for bilateral
trade and economic cooperation.
During the visit, the Chinese president and his Mozambican
counterpart Armando Emilio Guebuza will witness the inauguration of
China's first pilot project in the cooperation on agricultural
technology at the Institute of Agricultural Research in Maputo, the
first pilot center China has built since last year's Beijing Summit
of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Hu's visit will also see other substantial results of the
summit, at which the Chinese government announced many economic
assistance projects to African countries, including ten pilot
projects of cooperation in agricultural technology.
The close economic ties between China and Mozambique have been
enhanced by the frequent top-level visits of the leaders of the two
countries in the past few years.
During his meeting with the Mozambican president in Beijing in
November 2006, Hu said the two countries have maintained friendly
relations and all-round cooperation.
Hu told Guebuza that China had agreed to endorse Mozambique as a
new tourist destination in an effort to enhance bilateral
cooperation in the tourism industry and boost mutual
development.
"The Chinese government will continue to provide aid and will
encourage Chinese companies to invest in Mozambique," He said,
adding that key areas for bilateral cooperation include
infrastructure construction and agriculture.
The Mozambican president said Chinese experts, doctors and
business people have played an active role in Mozambique's social
and economic development, for which the Mozambican people are
grateful.
He said his country wished to expand cooperation with China,
particularly in infrastructure construction and personnel
training.
Statistics revealed by the Chinese embassy in Maputo showed that
China has built a total of 31 projects in Mozambique, including the
international conference center, the office buildings of the
Mozambican parliament, the foreign ministry and some garment
factories.
The two countries have also seen increasing growth in bilateral
trade over the past few years, with the total trade volume in 2006
reaching US$210 million. It was previously US$165 million in 2005
and US$119 million in 2004.
China and Mozambique established diplomatic ties in 1975, the
very day Mozambique declared independence.
(Xinhua News Agency February 7, 2007)
