国内英语新闻:China stays firmly committed to advancing ties with Africa, says vice FM

China will adhere to the principle of sincerity, friendliness, equality, mutual benefit, solidarity, cooperation and common development in developing Sino-African ties, while making innovation along with changes of the world and the respective situations of the two sides, he said.

Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), will pay a goodwill visit to Ethiopia and attend the opening ceremony of the 18th African Union (AU) Summit from Jan. 27 to 29.

The upcoming AU summit will be held at the newly-built AU Conference Center, which was completed with China's assistance after nearly three years of construction.

The building is an important achievement yielded by the 2006 Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, and is highly praised by the African side.

Founded in 2000 by China and Africa, the FOCAC has formed dialogue and cooperation mechanisms at various levels such as ministerial conferences, senior official meetings and entrepreneurs' conferences.

The AU and Ethiopia are both important cooperative partners of China, as AU is the most representative and important inter-governmental organization in Africa, and Ethiopia has important influence in Africa. Relationship with the AU and Ethiopia is an epitome of Sino-African friendly cooperation, he said.

Zhai said he believes Jia's visit will push forward China-Africa new strategic partnership to develop in a faster and better way, and contribute to world sustainable peace and common prosperity.

According to Chinese Ministry of Commerce, China-Africa trade volume reached 122.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first three quarters of 2011, attaining a year-on-year growth of 30 percent.