LUANDA: China's energy partnership with Africa is based on equality and mutual benefit, and will not influence any other party, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday.

During talks with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Wen said China is ready to work with Angola and other African countries in the energy sector. "This is only one part of co-operation between China and Africa in a wide range of fields," said Wen, who flew from Brazzaville to Luanda on Tuesday afternoon.

Dos Santos said that China has adopted positions which respond to the development needs of African nations.

Angola is China's second biggest trading partner in Africa, following South Africa. Trade between the two nations reached US$6.95 billion last year, 41.6 per cent up from the previous year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce.

Dos Santos said China has established a partnership with Africa aiming to promote reciprocal co-operation without any preconditions.

Across Angola, Chinese workers are busy rebuilding roads, railways and technical institutes. The work is financed by a US$2 billion low-interest loan from China's Export and Import Bank.

One of the key Chinese-funded projects is the reconstruction of the 1,300-kilometre railway from the west coast city of Benguela to Angola's eastern border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Yesterday afternoon, Wen arrived in Cape Town on a two-day official visit to South Africa, the fifth leg of his seven-nation Africa tour, which has taken him to Egypt, Ghana, the Republic of Congo, Angola and will also take him to Tanzania and Uganda.

He is expected to meet South African President Tbabo Mbeki.

Source: China Daily