ACCRA, May 28 -- Ghana's Vice President Kwesi Amissah- Arthur has called for closer relations between Ghana and China, particularly in terms of trade and investment, the state-run Ghanaian Times reported.

Amissah-Arthur made the remarks when he was receiving a Chinese delegation led by Zhou Yuxiao, China's Special Envoy for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), in the capital Accra on Wednesday.

The five-member delegation was to inform the government about the sixth FOCAC Ministerial Meeting due to take place late this year in South Africa.

The vice president called for China's private sector to take advantage of "the favorable environment" to invest in Ghana, and Chinese financial institutions to set up business in the country so as to assist Ghanaian traders doing business in China.

He commended the Chinese government for offering credit to projects in the country such as the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant, roads, railway lines and other infrastructure construction.

The 55-year-old diplomatic relations between the two nations should be further strengthened, he said.

Zhou said that China had earmarked about 500 billion U.S. dollars for overseas development, and urged Ghana to take advantage of the opportunity.

He said the FOCAC has been around for over 15 years and efforts are ongoing to make it even bigger and better.

He noted that China is bent on transforming the traditional trade relations with its partners to a new mode of cooperation in industrialization, adding that China is ready to transfer its know- how to African countries.