BEIJING, Oct 11 (AFP) - China will cancel 1.2 billion dollars of debt
owed
by African nations over the next two years to help alleviate poverty and
enable the continent to develop, officials said Wednesday.
   "Since China is willing to make contributions to alleviate the debt
burden
of African countries, it will reduce and exempt debt worth 10 billion yuan
owed by those heavily indebted poor countries and the least developed
countries in Africa in the coming two years," said Minister of Foreign Trade
and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng.
   Shi was speaking to some 80 African leaders representing 44 countries at
the first China-African Cooperation Forum being held in Beijing.
   China would also continue to provide assistance of various kinds and
"gradually expand the scale of assistance as its economic development level
rises and comprehensive national strength builds up," Shi said.
   Chinese companies would be encouraged to invest in Africa, and Beijing
would set up an Africa Human Resources Development Fund to help African
nations "train professional talents," he said.
   Officials at the ministry declined to detail which countries would be
eligible for debt reduction or specify the extent of African indebtedness to
Beijing.
   The gesture was seen as a sign that China was ready to take on a donor
nation role on the global stage, after years of being a major recipient of
international and bilateral aid and preferential economic and financial
policies.
   In recent years, Washington has proposed that Beijing increase its
financial contributions to the United Nations, while Japan, a major
contributor of aid and preferential loans to China, insisted in August that
Beijing clarify its developmental aid program to other countries.
   China was the major recipient of World Bank loans for most of the 1990s
and
was recently removed from the list of countries eligible for preferential
borrowing.
   Shi said China has invested in 47 African countries, while Africa has
largely been a buyer of Chinese textiles and electronics equipment.
   According to Chinese statistics, bilateral trade with African nations
totalled 6.48 billion dollars in 1999, with Chinese exports accounting for
4.1
billion dollars and African imports standing at 2.37 billion dollars.
   By the end of June 2000, some 480 Chinese companies had been set up in 47
African nations, with a total contractual investment of 820 million dollars,
of which 530 million dollars was Chinese capital.
   Shi's announcement was largely seen as the highlight of the landmark
summit, which has been billed as China's effort to align itself with Africa
and the developing world in an effort to confront domination by the West.
   At the opening of the forum on Tuesday, Chinese President Jiang Zemin
urged
Africa to cooperate with Beijing to demand political and economic equality
on
the global stage and establish a "new world order."
   "The right of all countries to sovereign equality and to freedom from
outside interference in their internal affairs must be ensured to them,"
Jiang
said.
   "No country should be allowed to impose its own social system or ideology
on others, nor should it be allowed to make irresponsible remarks on other
countries' internal affairs," he added.
   Meanwhile, the eight African nations that maintain diplomatic relations
with arch rival Taiwan were deemed ineligible to participate in the debt
alleviation plan, Chinese officials said.
   sai/sb

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