China promises $ 20 Billion Loan to Africa
China has promised to provide $ 20 billion loan to African countries over the next three years. The announcement was made by the Chinese President Hu Jin Tao at the opening session of the 5th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing. China had already pledged $10 billion loans at the previous China-Africa summit in 2009.
Chinese has promised to assist Africa by building agricultural technology demonstration centres, training 30000 personnel and offering 18000 scholarships. In order to improve the medical facilities in Africa, China will also send 1500 medical staffs to the continent.
In addition to this, various Chinese and African business majors signed economic cooperation agreements worth $ 341 million on the sidelines of the conference.
China-Africa bilateral trade was at around $ 166 billion in 2011, which is threefold to its 2006 figures. In 2009, China became Africa’s biggest trading partner. As per China custom data, Angola, South Africa, Sudan, Nigeria and Egypt are the five biggest trading partners of China in the continent. China is supporting numerous infrastructure projects in the continent. It gave $ 200 million for building the African Union’s new headquarters in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
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Month: Current Affairs - July, 2012