China supports ag production in Africa

China's Ministry of Commerce has said that the country will gradually increase aid to Africa. Since 2000, China has helped Africa build more than 120 educational facilities, nearly 40 irrigation projects to support agricultural production, and over 70 medical facilities.


"China's aid to Africa has been carried out in accordance with China's capabilities. The aid to Africa accounts for a limited proportion of China's gross domestic product," said Shu Luomei, an official with the MOC Department of Western Asian and African Affairs.


Shu's remarks at a press conference came three days before a Sino-African coordinators' meeting on the implementation of actions resulting from the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in December 2015.


At the Johannesburg Summit, China announced 10 major plans for China-Africa cooperation over the next three years, backed by a package of 60 billion U.S. dollars.


Of the financial package, 10 billion dollars was allocated to a China-Africa industrial capacity cooperation fund, which will mainly invest in manufacturing, hi-tech, agriculture, energy, infrastructure construction and finance in African countries.


Since 2012, China has provided African countries with over 20 billion dollars in loans to support infrastructure, investment, small- and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture and manufacturing.


MOC data showed that China's non-financial outbound investment in Africa jumped 10 percent year on year in the first half of 2016 to more than 1.3 billion U.S. dollars.


Source: news.xinhuanet.com