Economic, Trade Cooperation Between Angola, China Bodes PromisingThe economic and trade cooperation between China and Angola has been largely reinforced in recent years, and still has great potential and vast perspective of development.The bilateral trade volume of both countries, which stood at US$190 million in 1998, reached to 372 million in 1999 and 1,876 million in 2000, according to the Chinese Embassy in Angola. Angola, formerly a Portuguese colony, has rich petroleum with a proven deposit of 10 billion barrels under its continental shelf along the south Atlantic coast. In addition, it also abounds in agriculture, fish, forestry and diamond resources. Although troubled by the civil war since the country's independence in 1975, the Angolan government has always seen trade as its top priority of implementing economic rehabilitation strategy. Therefore, China, which is commonly regarded as the largest unexplored market in the world, became the major target for Angola's export. According to Angolan customs officials, the trade with China has great complementary characteristics, with Angola supplying resources to China and China providing industrial products to Angola. In recent years, the Chinese government has adopted effective measures to help Angola stabilize, rehabilitate and develop its industry. For example, Haier Group, a Chinese company specializing in production of household electric-appliances, has established a factory in Angola with an investment estimated at some US$11 million and helped create more than 700 jobs for the Angolans. Meanwhile, China has also provided Angola with material assistance worth about US$600,000 per year, which is deeply hailed by the Angolan government and people. In other effective forms of economic cooperation between the two countries, China always provided to Angola interest-free or interest-deducted loans. Last year, China helped Angola construct 15,000 square meters of residence in form of interest-free loan, worth US$11 millions and completed in October last year. In addition, a good impetus in the development of joint venture' projects between the two countries has also emerged. A fishing company from Dalian, a coast city in northeastern China, and the fishing company of Angola's Kuanza-Sul Province began the fishing cooperation in May last year and have so far gained huge benefits for both companies. As a result of the day-on-day strengthening of the bilateral relations, the great potential of cooperation in the economic and trade fields between China and Angola is expected to be brought into full play. |
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