Guangdong to Promote Cooperation with AfricaAfrican nations and regions will be the key focus for investment from South China's Guangdong Province in the future, said Guangdong Governor Lu Ruihua yesterday.The remark was made at a meeting of more than 185 senior officials, diplomatic envoys and business representatives from 40 nations and regions in Africa held in Guangzhou. Lu encouraged local enterprises to set up companies and subsidiaries suitable for expansion into the vast African market. Guangdong's household appliances, garments, daily use articles, food and other domestic products which are high in quality but inexpensive have great potential in Africa where the economy is not yet as developed as in Western nations. Rich natural resources in Africa, particularly forestry reserves, crude oil, non-ferrous metals and fisheries, can support the rapid economic development of Guangdong, Lu said. Africa has advantages that other regions do not, Lu added. Last Friday, the Guangdong provincial government hired a special plane from China Southern Airlines to help transport more than 200 senior officials and business representatives, who had attended the China-Africa Co-operation Forum in Beijing, to Guangdong for discussions on further economic ties. In addition to Governor Lu, the African guests also met Li Changchun, Party secretary of Guangdong, Tang Bingquan, vice-governor of Guangdong, and other senior officials and business executives in a bid to seek investment opportunities and expand trade ties between the prosperous province and the African continent. |
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