China has said it will make every effort to prepare for the 42nd African Development Bank (ADB) annual meetings to be held in Shanghai from May 13 to 18, Xinhua new agency reports.

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, who is also president of the board of governors of the ADB Group, made the remarks on Wednesday during his visit to the bank's headquarters in Tunis.

While meeting bank president Donald Kaberuka, Zhou spoke extensively about the challenges of economic development and his country's relations with Africa, as well as China's experience in achieving rocketing economic growth.

Kaberuka underscored the timeliness of the visit and the offer by China to host the next annual meetings.

Before leaving Tunis, Zhou Xiaochuan held a joint press conference with President Donald Kaberuka where he stressed that through the Bank, China could do a lot to support African development efforts, especially in the area of infrastructure development.
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He also pointed to the consensus that emerged in the November 2006 China-Africa Summit on strengthening economic and political relations between China and Africa. The Summit brought together over forty African Heads of State and Government in Beijing.
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The ADB annual meetings are the most important gathering of Africa's senior finance and development policymakers and experts.
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The Shanghai session will be the second time the meetings have been held outside the African continent.
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Each year, the event brings together about 1,500 private and public sector managers, including finance ministers of the banking group's 77 member countries.
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China is one of 24 non-regional members of the African Development Bank Group and has always supported the ADB in its bid to play a broader role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa, according to an article on the official website of the ADB.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)