China-Africa meeting will promote partnership, Cape Verde foreign minister says

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is an important mechanism and the Beijing summit will promote China-Africa ties to a new high, the Cape Verde Foreign Minister Luis Filipe Tavares said Thursday in Beijing.

The upcoming summit will further promote the integration of China's Belt and Road Initiative with the African Union's Agenda 2063 to enhance mutual benefits, Tavares told China Daily.

The minister noted that the Prime Minister of Cape Verde Ulisses Correia e Silva will attend the summit, which will be held in September.

"Africa and China are good friends and sincere partners with a long history of cooperation and mutual support," he said, adding that Africa offers huge investment opportunities for Chinese companies and there is vast potential in economic and trade cooperation between the two sides.

China and Cape Verde established diplomatic ties in 1976, and Cape Verde has proven to be "a faithful friend" of China, Tavares said.

China has funded public buildings, such as the presidential and governmental palaces, in the country.

"Chinese investment in key economic sectors, such as infrastructure, industries and tourism, is welcomed as it can promote economic growth," he said.

Cape Verde has a geostrategic position in the Atlantic Ocean and it might prove to be of great significance in deepening cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to Cape Verde in May.

During a meeting with Cape Verde President Jorge Fonseca, Wang said that the two countries are working to push forward cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, marine economy, the development of special economic zones, tourism, renewable energy and human resource development.