A photo exhibition was opened on Wednesday in Lome, the capital of Togo, to demonstrate achievements in the continent since the 2006 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
The photo show held at the Chinese Embassy in Togo was attended by high-ranking officials of the Togolese government and diplomats accredited to the West African country.
This exhibition marked the third anniversary of the Beijing Summit, which was concluded by an announcement of eight measures on bilateral cooperation by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The Chinese ambassador to Togo, Yang Min, said the contribution of FOCAC to the development of Sino-African relations will be a brilliant chapter in history.
The Chinese diplomats said the combined efforts could be seen across the 80 photos showing the fruits of cooperation, whether multilateral or bilateral, between China and African countries in the past three years.
Yang noted that the measures announced have been implemented, giving strong impetus to the in-depth development of economic and commercial relations between the two sides.
Since the Beijing Summit, the Chinese president has visited 30 African countries, while 40 African heads of state and government and parliamentary speakers have paid reciprocal visits to China, said the Chinese envoy.
In 2008, the volume of trade between China and Africa reached 106.8 billion U. S. dollars, including 50.8 billion dollars worth of Chinese exports to Africa and 56 billion dollars imports from Africa.
During the three years, China and Togo have signed 23 agreements for economic aid and preferential loans, totalling 110 billion FCFA (220 million U. S. dollars), of which 82 billion FCFA has been used for telecommunication and road infrastructure.
Up to 454 Togolese products exported to China have received zero custom tariffs. The two countries signed an accord in July 2007 to erase Togo's debts of maturity at the end of 2005.
"The new Sino-African partnership has opened ambitious perspectives for Africa regarding her development and her insertion in the world economy," said the Togolese minister for cooperation and development, Gilbert Bawara.
"The balance of Sino-Togolese cooperation is to a large extent positive," he pointed out, lauding the "great faithfulness" of China in honoring its commitments vis-a-vis Togo.
Bawara expressed satisfaction and profound gratitude of the government and the people of Togo to their brothers and the government of the People's Republic of China for their precious and consistent assistance.
Li Benzhong (Xinhua)
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