China-Africa Fund to boost business links
The setting up of the fund was approved by the State Council, the Chinese cabinet, vice governor of China Development Bank (CDB).
China has established the China-Africa Development Fund with a corpus amount of one billion US dollars to help promote the communist country's investments and businesses in the huge African continent.
The setting up of the fund was approved by the State Council, the Chinese cabinet, vice governor of China Development Bank (CDB), Gao Jian said.
The approval comes ahead of the 2007 Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of African Development Bank Group which will be held in the eastern Chinese metropolis, Shanghai from May 16 to 17.
This is the second time the ADB is holding its annual meetings outside Africa and first time it is held in Asia, signalling the importance Africa is attaching to its ties with China. Beijing joined the ADB in 1985.
CBD, as the main initiator of the fund, has drafted the plan on establishing the China-Africa Development Fund, Gao said while addressing the Development Finance and Sino-Africa Economic Cooperation Forum in Shanghai on Sunday.
According to the draft plan, the fund will start from one billion US Dollars, and then add up to three billion US Dollars in the second phase, until eventually amount to five billion dollars.
The business scope of the fund mainly includes equity and quasi-equity investment, fund investments, fund management, investment management and consulting services, Xinhua news agency reported.