BEIJING: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will visit Egypt next month to attend a China-Africa meeting, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, as energy-hungry Beijing boosts ties with the resource-rich continent.
During his Nov. 6-8 visit, ending with the forum in Sharm El-Sheikh, Wen will hold talks with Egyptian leaders and the heads of some African nations, ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters.
At the last China-Africa summit in Beijing in 2006, China pledged hefty aid and vowed to step up its trade relations with the continent.
China s aid and assistance to African countries is long-term and continuous, Ma told reporters, saying a road map for bilateral cooperation in 2010-2012 would be adopted at the meeting.
Some Western critics have accused China of worsening repression and human rights abuses in Africa by supporting countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe in a drive to increase access to oil and other resources needed to fuel its growth.
But other observers have said the closer ties between the two sides are focused on industries that would ease African development such as agriculture, electric power, transportation and water drainage. -AFP
