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Presidents ink cooperation deals

China and Angola sealed eight agreements on June 9 covering economic cooperation, transportation, electricity and financing, as Africa's second-largest oil producer continues to face problems caused by falling crude oil prices.

The agreements were signed in Beijing after a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who arrived on June 8 for his first official visit to China in seven years.

China is willing to help Angola transform its rich natural and human resources into development results and achieve independent and sustainable development, Xi said.

China will encourage enterprises to invest in Angola, participate in its industrial parks and infrastructure construction, and help diversify its economy, he said.

Xi called for the early signing of further agreements covering currency exchange, investment protection and avoidance of double taxation.

Dos Santos reaffirmed his government's commitment to diversifying the economy, and said the administration hoped to see greater cooperation with China in sectors such as infrastructure, education, agriculture, industry and financing.

Suu Kyi begins groundbreaking visit

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Beijing on June 10, starting a groundbreaking visit to China that is expected to consolidate another channel for Beijing to communicate with the neighboring country.

Beijing showed how important it considers the first visit of 69-year-old Suu Kyi by having the Chinese ambassador to Myanmar see her off at the airport, a rare arrangement in interparty exchanges.

She met Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, on June 10 in Beijing.

President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang also met Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar's National League for Democracy, which is likely to perform strongly in elections later this year, her party says.

Since her release from house arrest in 2010, Suu Kyi has said that her country must maintain friendly relations with China.

Song Qingrun, an expert with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that though this is Suu Kyi's first visit to China, her family has kept close ties with the country.

Call to boost parliamentary links

Top Chinese legislator Zhang Dejiang met South African parliamentary leaders on June 8 and called for closer cooperation between the two countries' legislatures.

China-South Africa relations have maintained robust development in recent years, said Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, during a meeting with Thandi Modise, chairwoman of South Africa's National Council of Provinces, and Solomon Lechesa Tsenoli, deputy speaker of South Africa's National Assembly.

The priority for the two countries is to earnestly carry out the consensuses reached during the reciprocal visits of President Xi Jinping and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma, and build the bilateral relationship into a new type of China-Africa strategic partnership, as well as a model for cooperation between large developing countries, Zhang said.

Modise said the South African legislature supported the deepening of all-dimensional cooperation between South Africa and China.

President's call to bolster manufacturing

Ethiopia is keen to further strengthen cooperation with China in manufacturing, Mulatu Teshome, the country's president, said.

As Ethiopia moves toward industrialization, the East African nation is keen to have more Chinese investors in the manufacturing sector, and to develop more industry zones and industrial parks, he said.

The president said the partnership forged between Ethiopia and China was important in Ethiopia's fast-growing economic development.

Ethiopia has abundant natural resources but lacks an adequate industrial capability to tap the full potential, he said.

The economies of Ethiopia and China complement each other, he added.

Awards for overseas students in Egypt

The Chinese embassy in Egypt recently held a ceremony to award 179 overseas Chinese students for outstanding academic performance.

Ayteken Gasol, from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, who has won a prize for the past three consecutive years, said she would "continue to work hard so as to make even more achievements".

Song Aiguo, the Chinese ambassador, said about 3,000 Chinese study in Egypt, most of them from Xinjiang.

Landmark projects help boost ties

Bilateral ties between Egypt and China have been boosted by rising economic cooperation and infrastructure projects, officials said.

The Arab nation is aspiring for economic growth after four years of political turmoil in which former presidents Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Morsi have been outsted.

"China is ready to support Egypt's efforts to maintain stability and growth, as the nation strives to find a development path that fits its conditions," Yang Jiechi, a Chinese state councilor, said on June 8 during a two-day visit to Cairo, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

The Egyptian leader said Cairo is keen to keep up high-level exchanges with China and strengthen cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, education and culture, as well as bilateral coordination in global and regional affairs.

Embassy launches online visa service

Kenyans will soon be able to arrange a visa appointment with the Chinese embassy using an online application system.

"On July 1, we will launch an online system for applicants," the embassy in Nairobi said in a statement. "Applicants are required to log on to the official website and make an appointment before submitting applications.

"Starting from the first day of each month, online appointments will be available for the next month. Appointments for July will be available from June 15."

Miriam Bosire, a graduate of Kenyatta University, welcomed the new system.

"I've traveled to many European countries and to get a visa you also book appointments online," she said.

Premier confident about economic growth

Premier Li Keqiang said China is confident of maintaining an annual growth rate of about 7 percent for a fair period of time by persisting with reform and opening-up and tapping the country's huge potential.

While meeting with international business leaders on June 9, he said conditions still exist to sustain growth at a "medium to high level" despite the economic slowdown.

Li said he drew confidence from the fact large areas are yet to be developed in central and western China, reflecting the gap between the relatively industrialized coastal areas and those regions.

"If the Chinese economy can expand at about 7 percent this year, it would translate into an incremental volume of about $800 billion," he said.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/12/2015 page2)