A senior Tunisian official has said the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) would be a grand event with great significance that would help further promote cooperation between China and Africa in various fields.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Mohamed Nouri Jouini, Tunisia's Minister of Development and International Cooperation, said the launch of the FOCAC summit came at a time when many African countries were making progress in economic fields, adding impetus to their opening up to the world.

Jouini, also head of the Tunisian delegation, said China attached great importance to developing relations with African countries and played an important role in broadening cooperation with the continent.

The minister hoped Africa and China would establish a more comprehensive and balanced cooperative relationship and strengthen cooperation in science and technology, culture and sports.

Jouini visited China in April. He said China was developing very fast and had experienced dramatic changes, especially in its economy and urban construction.

He said African countries were heartily glad that China had become one of the important countries of the world in terms of economic development. African countries could benefit from China's development.

Jouini said Tunisia was paying attention to developing cooperative relations with China in all fields. He said bilateral relations had been developing continuously since the two nations established diplomatic ties 40 years ago.

At present, the two countries maintain good relations and high-level exchanges, and their cooperation in economy and trade is developing constantly, he added.

Jouini called on Chinese enterprises and companies to invest in his country and further promote the development of friendly cooperative relations between Tunisia and China.

The summit, due to be held from Nov. 3-5 and to be attended by some 30 African heads of state or government, will be the highest-level and largest-scale meeting between Chinese and African leaders since China and African countries started to forge cooperative ties in the 1950s.

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2006)