The Chinese ambassador to Angola, Cui Aimin said in Luanda that cooperation with Angola is in a new phase and aims to improve the investment and financing processes, Angolan news agency Angop reported on Friday.

The diplomat was speaking during a press conference on the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC), to be held in Beijing on 3 and 4 September.

Cui Aimin said that in this new phase of relations, China is thinking of projects that could contribute to the development of Angola in the areas of industry, agriculture, health and education.

According to the diplomat, Angola’s participation in FOCAC 2018 will be fundamental for closer bilateral cooperation.

Angola is currently China’s main trading partner in Africa, while China has replaced the United States as Angola’s main trading partner.

According to Cui Aimin, Angola’s participation in the forum will allow the country to be involved in what it called “China’s new policies in collaboration with Africa.”

According to Angop, Sino-Angolan relations are characterised, on the one hand, by growing Chinese demand for oil and, on the other, by the need for reconstruction and construction of infrastructure by Angola.

The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1983. Since 2002, China has become more visible when it has granted financing to Angola to recover and build roads, railways, airports and other infrastructure that is a priority for the country’s development.

In the first quarter of this year, trade between the two countries grew 22.4% to US$6.8 billion.

In the same period, China sold products worth US$481 million to Angola and bought goods valued at US$6.32 billion.

In 2017, trade between Angola and China grew 43.42% to US$22.34 billion. (macauhub)