In Luanda on Tuesday Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos
agreed with visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to broaden mutually
beneficial cooperation.
During their meeting Premier Wen said Sino-Angolan relations had
developed smoothly in the past 23 years since the establishment of
diplomatic ties.
"The Chinese government highly appreciates Angola's adherence to
the one-China principle and China supports Angola's post-war
reconstruction," said Wen who's on a seven-nation Africa tour.
The premier said Chinese enterprises were seeking more
opportunities for economic cooperation in Angola which is China's
second largest trading partner in Africa. Some Angolan projects
aided by China had achieved sound social and economic benefits, he
added.
Wen noted that China would further strengthen cooperation with
Angola in the fields of infrastructure, telecommunications and
energy. He said China would continue to aid Angola and encourage
their companies to invest in China.
For his part Dos Santos said bilateral relations had made real
progress as both sides had abided by the principles of mutual
respect, equality and benefit. He said Angola's reconstruction
needed China's help and he welcomed investment.?
The president said Angola supported China's policy toward Africa
and added that China's cooperation projects in Africa helped the
continent to develop, relieved poverty and achieved common
goals.
China's energy development should begin inside the country
making energy saving and improved efficiency the priority, Wen
said.
Currently China could provide 90 percent of its own energy
needs. The oil imported from Africa to China annually was less than
one third of that by some countries, Wen observed. In the future
China would further enhance its energy cooperation with African
countries, including Angola, based on equality and mutual benefit,
said the Chinese premier.
President Dos Santos expressed his hope that the two countries
could strengthen their mutually beneficial cooperation in the
energy sector combining Angola's rich natural resources with
China's huge development potential.
When talking about the position in Africa's Great Lakes region
Wen said the overall situation was developing positively. The
Chinese government had always insisted that the countries of the
Great Lakes should try to solve their problems through negotiation
and dialogue on the basis of respecting each other's sovereignty,
territorial integrity, pursuing peace, friendship and prosperity in
the region together.
China supported the Angolan government's efforts to solve
regional disputes and would offer help when needed, Wen
pledged.
Dos Santos expressed his appreciation of China's offer and
promised to continue to work on regional peace and stability. The
two sides issued a joint communiqué and signed a series of economic
cooperation treaties after the meeting.
(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2006)