Angola wants greater cooperation from China

China and Angola have maintained good cooperation in many areas but there is still much to be done together, said Monday in Jakarta the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“China has been participating in the infrastructure building programme in Angola … but we still need many more roads and airports, and from what I understand this is an area where we can cooperate more,” Georges Chikoti told Chinese state news agency Xinhua on the sidelines of the Asia/Africa ministerial meeting to be held on 22 and 23 April.
Chikoti stressed that Angola and China would cooperate more in energy, agriculture, trade and the development of industrial capacity, “and the two side will continue to identify projects that can be carried out.”
In Beijing, delegations from both countries analyzed the bilateral relationship during an audience granted by the Chinese deputy prime minister, Wang Yang, to the Angolan delegation led by the Minister of State and Chief of Staff, Edeltrudes Costa.
The meeting was preceded on Sunday by the first session of the Steering Committee for Economic and Trade Cooperation between Angola and the People’s Republic of China, according to a statement from the Angolan embassy in China, cited by Angolan news agency Angop.
At the meeting, the Angolan delegation restated the need to consolidate the strategic partnership with China, to meet the targets set in the Angolan National Development Plan for 2013-2017.
Trade between Angola and China in 2014 totaled USD37.07 billion (+3.23 percent), which resulted from Angolan sales of US$31.09 billion (-2.67 percent) and Chinese sales of US$5.97 billion (+50.73 percent).  MDT/Macauhub