China-Africa Summit Yields Promise Of New Aid

TAREK EL-TABLAWY

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) — China's foreign minister stressed his country's commitment to Africa's development Monday at the end of a China-Africa summit in which Beijing pledged $10 billion in loans and countered criticism it was plundering the continent's resources.

Following on Beijing's promise of new loans and debt forgiveness, Chinese and African officials capped the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation with a document outlining joint priorities in boosting relations and a roadmap for implementing the plan. China also said it would help Africa deal with climate change challenges such as desertification.

The new initiatives, announced Sunday by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and to be implemented over the next three years, build on a previous three-year plan from 2006 in which Beijing pledged $5 billion in loans.

They "are a response to requests by the African people to improve their livelihood," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told reporters Monday. "The two agreements represent ... a comprehensive plan for a new stage of Chinese-African cooperation."

The summit brought leaders from some of the world's poorest and most-conflict plagued nations together with a country whose political and economic might has grown exponentially over the years.