China promotes cooperation with Africa under multilateral framework

China has joined other countries and international multilateral organizations to help African countries reduce poverty, develop economy and promote social progress, said an official white paper released Thursday.

"China works closely with the African Union (AU) and African sub-regional organizations not only in traditional areas like infrastructure construction, agriculture and personal training, but also in emerging fields like finance, disaster reduction and intellectual property," says the paper on Sino-Africa economic and trade cooperation published by the Information Office of the State Council.

Read More: China issues white paper on economic, trade co-op with Africa

Since 2011, the Chinese government has signed Framework Agreements on Economic and Trade Cooperation with both the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to expand cooperation in promoting trade facilitation, direct investment, cross-border infrastructure construction and development aid.

In addition, China has promised to contribute 615 million U.S. dollars to the African Development Fund (ADF), which is the soft-loan window of the African Development Bank (AfDB), and has actively participated in the ADF's Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative to support poverty reduction and regional integration in Africa.

China has also joined forces with multilateral organizations including the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank (WB) to aid Africa in the fields of agriculture, environmental protection and training.

China was the first country to form a strategic alliance with the UNFAO to foster South-South cooperation. In 2008, China decided to contribute 30 million U.S. dollars to the UNFAO to set up a trust fund, which is used to support South-South cooperation between China and African countries under the framework of the UNFAO Special Program for Food Security.

In addition, the paper says, China works cooperatively on climate change and disaster reduction with international organizations, including the United Nations Environment Programme and the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

China has worked to enhance exchanges and mutual learning with other countries to explore practical cooperation in providing assistance to Africa.

"China will work more closely with the AU and African sub-regional organizations in the future to support Africa's economic integration and build the capacities of regional organizations," says the paper.

China will also expand its international cooperative efforts to advance Africa's sustainable development, strengthen cooperation in the fields of agricultural development and climate change, and provide more support to Africa in ecological protection and environmental management, according to the paper.