Macau, China, 29 June – Mozambique is likely to become China’s second-largest trading partner in Africa over the next five to 10 years with development of cooperation in sectors such as energy, the deputy secretary-general of Forum Macau told Portuguese news agency Lusa.

“Trade with Angola and the potential there is in Mozambique in terms of its future relationship with China make those two countries the drivers of the relationship between China and the Portuguese-speaking African Countries,” said Manuel Amante da Rosa, on the sidelines of a talk on China-Africa relations in the offices of Macau law firm CandC.

According to the Cape Verdean career diplomat, Mozambique could also “easily” become China’s second-largest trading partner in Africa, after Angola, within, “five to ten years, depending on how coal and gas exports are carried out.”

Amante da Rosa also said that the, “Mozambique channel is becoming strategic for China’s relationship with Africa,” and that Mozambique would “have the greatest hydroelectric capacity in Southern Africa,” as other drivers of increased two-way trade.

According to the diplomat, “within two or three years cooperation will reach substantial levels, as soon as (Mozambique) starts to export coal (to China) on a large scale and infrastructure work begins.”

Amante da Rosa said that China’s investment in Africa, “will continue to be massive and is focused on the hydrocarbon sector,” but noted that “some projects in the agri-livestock sector are being outlined, specifically in Mozambique, which have great potential in that sector.”

Noting that China, “has an absolute need to import raw materials,” Amante da Rosa noted that the most feasible place to meet that demand was, “Africa and then the South American continent,” and there Brazil would remain China’s largest partner. (macauhub)