Mekonen Abraha, minister of Industry, Trade and Transportation in the Ethiopian province of Tigre, decided at the end of his visit to China that an agriculture delegation from his province should pay a visit to northwest China's Gansu Province.

During his stay in Gansu, Abraha found similarities between Gansu and Tigre in terms of climate and natural conditions, and he said that Gansu's experience in developing agricultural production and eliminating poverty are worth learning from.

Three months ago, as guests of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), a major non-governmental organization in China, Abraha and his delegation made a fact-finding visit to a poverty relief demonstration in Gansu and visited local farmers in some township-level enterprises in east China's Jiangsu province.

Unofficial exchanges between China and African countries have played an important role in promoting Sino-African friendship and cooperation, a CPAFFC official said.

The Chinese and African peoples forged a deep friendship when fighting imperialism, colonialism and struggling for national independence and liberation as early as in the 1950-60s.

China and most African countries established diplomatic relations since then, expanding horizons for unofficial exchanges between China and African countries.

Su Guang, vice-president of the CPAFFC, said that new energy should be injected into Sino-African unofficial exchanges based on the existing friendship.

Over the past 10 years, the CPAFFC has received more than 10 African delegations each year in the areas of politics, economy, trade, the press, culture and local governments and parliaments.

Moreover, the CPAFFC has worked to promote contacts between the business communities of the two sides. The Johannesburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce in South Africa was invited to visit China last year to introduce business opportunities to Chinese businessmen.

The CPAFFC has also played a role in establishing friendly relations between localities of both sides.

Since the establishment of relations between Changsha City in Hunan province in central China and Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo in 1982, Chinese localities have forged 43 pairs of friendly relations with foreign counterparts from 23 African countries, thus promoting cooperation in various fields.

"The Sino-African friendship has stood the test of time. At the turn of the century, China and African countries should work together to seek common development. There is a promising future for Sino-African unofficial exchanges," Su said.

(People's Daily 10/08/2000)