The Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA) is considering establishing trading agreements with China, the bloc's senior official said Tuesday.

"We would like to start negotiations with China on various products where we can have preferential trading agreements as you know China is now gradually becoming a strong global economy," Erastus Mwencha, COMESA secretary general, told Xinhua in Lusaka Tuesday.

While acknowledging the already existing relationships between China and the southern African regional body, Mwencha said there is need to come up with a trading arrangement that could foster economic development for COMESA and China.

"COMESA could learn more from China's development strategy and that is why we would like to embark on a plan to see which projects we should work together on," he said.

According to statistics obtained, trade between COMESA and China has been growing over the years. The figures show that exports from COMESA to China grew from about US$42 million in 1998 to about US$822 million in 2002.

He expressed happiness that the relationship between COMESA and China is growing from strength to strength.

The COMESA region has so far made various trading arrangements with other major economic powers such as the United States through the African Growth and Opportunity Act, in which African countries are allowed to export close to 8,000 types of products duty and quota free to the American market.

Furthermore, COMESA is currently negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union for preferential market access.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2004)