A senior official with the Ministry of Commerce says strengthening Sino-African cooperation is necessary and feasible.

The assistant minister, Chen Jian, said at a Sino-African seminar that the Chinese and African economies complement each other and have huge potential for cooperation.

He said that China and Africa are both searching for suitable ways of development and are all hoping to learn from each other and cooperate more extensively.

Chen Jian noted that China has signed bilateral trade agreements with 41 African countries.

China-Africa trade exceeded US$23 billion in the first ten months of this year. China has also offered aid to 53 African countries in the last four years.

(CRI.com December 10, 2004)