By Jiang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-14 07:00

China is steadily implementing the commitments it made at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation a year ago, senior trade officials declared Tuesday.

As a result, bilateral trade is expected to hit $70 billion by year's end, up from $55.5 billion last year, and continue to skyrocket the next year.

Since China removed import tariffs on 454 separate categories from the 32 least developed countries in July, some $450 million worth of duty-free trade has entered the Chinese market from Africa.

In another major boost to ties, by the end of the year China will have waived the debts of 33 poor African countries with which it has established diplomatic relations.

"Works to honor China's eight commitments are all kicked off and are going on smoothly," said Wei Jianguo, vice-minister of commerce.

"The favorable tariffs are expected to cover more categories according to market demand."

China has become Africa's second largest trade partner - after the United States - and plans to expedite the establishment of economic cooperation zones across a number of countries.

The first has already been launched in Zambia and another three are slated by year's end.

Africa has also become the second largest overseas investment destination for Chinese enterprises, which envisage enormous business potential in the continent.

Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce showed China's investment in Africa totaled $1 billion in the first three quarters of the year.

This has been aided by the June launch of the China-Africa Development Fund (CADF) and its enticement of greater Chinese investment.

"The fund will help conduct some large-scale projects in Africa," Wei said.

As soon as it was launched, the CADF received a number of applications from African countries.

According to Wei, China will set up more than 10 agricultural demonstration zones in a bid to help African countries improve the crucial field of agricultural production. Progress has also been made in such sectors as training, healthcare and infrastructure construction.