Chinese president arrives in Brazzaville for state visit

BRAZZAVILLE, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Brazzaville Friday for a state visit to the Republic of the Congo, the last leg of his first trip abroad after he took office as China's new president earlier this month.

During his visit, the first by a Chinese head of state since China and the central African nation set up diplomatic ties in 1964, President Xi will meet President Denis Sassou Nguesso and exchange views on how to enhance bilateral cooperation.

Over the past decades, China and the Republic of the Congo have had fruitful cooperation in political, economic, trade and cultural sectors.

China is now the Republic of the Congo's largest trading partner. Two-way trade between the two countries jumped to 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2012 from 290 million dollars in 2002.

Xi flew in from Durban, South Africa, after attending the fifth BRICS summit. Before that, Xi paid a state visit to Russia, Tanzania and South Africa.

This is Xi's first overseas trip to the African continent since he became China's president. It has fully demonstrated China's commitment to growing its relations with African countries.

China and Africa have forged a profound friendship during the past decades. The two sides have supported each other in the course of national development, and coordinated well in international affairs.

The China-Africa relations have grown more vigorously since 2000, when both sides established the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to further their bilateral cooperation.

At the FOCAC Beijing Summit in 2006, China and Africa decided to establish a new type of strategic partnership, which has deepened bilateral cooperation in all areas in recent years.

The two sides are actively implementing the follow-up actions to the fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

China became Africa's biggest trading partner in 2009. In 2012, bilateral trade grew to 198 billion dollars.

China's investment in Africa has also registered strong growth. By June 2012, China had invested 45 billion dollars in Africa, including over 15 billion dollars of direct investment.

Meanwhile, over 2,000 Chinese companies of different types are operating in 50 African countries, and more than 85 percent of their staff are Africans.

China has also stepped up assistance to Africa, with more assistance made in improving the well-being of the people, poverty reduction, disaster preparedness and mitigation, and capacity building.

Xi will wrap up his four-nation trip Saturday.