In an art gallery several blocks from downtown Beijing, Zhu Zhigang, manager of an African handcrafts company, is busy recommending African carving and painting works to customers.
Zhu told Xinhua that business has got better and better over recent years as the people in China have a growing interest in Africa. "In my view, the Chinese have the ability to appreciate the artistic value of African culture,"said Zhu.
Chinese and African people have enjoyed a kind of natural proximity. Explorers from China and Morocco visited each other's countries about 700 ago. Shortly afterwards, the famous Chinese navigator Zheng He first landed on the vast and exotic continent.
During the 18th-19th century, the Chinese and African peoples firmly supported each other in the common struggles against colonialism.
The Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA), built in the early 1970s with Chinese assistance, has been called the "railway of friendship" by local people.
The past few years have witnessed an increasing number of Chinese travelling to Africa. More than 50,000 tourists from China went to Africa last year, and the number is expected to grow in 2005.
With Namibia being added to the list of overseas tourism destinations last week, Chinese can now tour in 16 different African countries. "Africa is becoming a promising new market for a host of travel agencies in China," acknowledged a manager with China International Travel Agency. "More and more people love to travel in Africa, as the African people are like brothers and sisters to the Chinese eyes and the interest is getting stronger now."
For most Africans, China is an "all-weather" friend. Pohamba, the Namibian president who wound up his first state visit to China on December 20, told Xinhua that China has stood firm and provided Namibia with political, material and diplomatic support in its struggle for freedom and independence.
"China was a genuine friend of Namibia during our time of serious need," Pohamba said.
Common concerns between China and Africa keep expanding since the two sides share similar interests and goals in the establishment of a just and rational international political and economic new order.
This was the context in which Zimbabwe launched the "Look East" policy in 2003 after Western nations imposed sanctions. Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe said that its experiences showed that developing countries should enhance their cooperation and consolidate their unity in a bid to jointly face crises and challenges.
The communique issued by Senegal when resuming diplomatic relations with China on Oct. 25 said that it is a historic decision of President Wade to resume diplomatic ties with China upon the objective and careful consideration of world politics. The decision is in the fundamental interest of the Senegalese people.
In international affairs, China and Africa have conducted extensive and close coordination to safeguard the common interests of their own and other developing countries.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China gave resolute, full support to the efforts of African countries for sovereignty, opposing any interference from other countries.
On the reform of the United Nations, China insists that the UN reform should give priority to increasing representation of African countries and other developing countries in the Security Council.
In this month's WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, China actively pushed forward the reduction of import tariffs and quotas for the least developed countries.
Though a developing country itself, China took the initiative to reduce import tariffs on 25 least developed African countries and waive 10.5 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) of debt for 31 poverty-stricken African countries.
Professor Su Hao from the China Foreign Affairs University (CAFU) said that China underlined harmonious co-existence and common prosperity of diverse world cultures. Therefore, China has always seen it as an obligation to strengthen friendship and cooperation with African countries.
China's remarkable achievements in economic growth and poverty reduction have attracted a great deal of attention from African countries. The African Union said it is committed to cooperating with China and would like to invite China to participate in the New Economic Partnership for the Development of Africa (NEPAD).
The Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo said during his China visit in April that Africa would like to have China's support and participation in the process of resolving African disputes. "At the same time, African aims to intensify cooperation with China in the fields of trade, investment and agriculture," said Obasanjo, who is also rotating president of the African Union.
Recent years have seen increasing cooperation in regional affairs between China and Africa. China has sent more than 800 military personnel to carry out peace-keeping missions in a number of war-threatened African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia.
"Equality, mutual benefit and mutual support are high on the agenda of Sino-Africa relations,"said Professor He Wenping of the African Studies Office of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
In the past decade, China has increased its investment in Africa, building industry, transport, telecommunication and electricity networks, in an effort to improve African people's living standards.
"Western nations have been extracting oil from Africa for years without building any refineries there," said He."This provides a sharp contrast with China."
China has never attached any political conditions to its aid to Africa. President Hu Jintao stressed in his speech in the National Assembly of Gabon last February that China has always adhered to the Five principles of Peaceful Coexistence and respected African countries' independent choice of their own political systems and development paths.
The old Chinese saying goes, "Give a man a fish and you can feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Accordingly, China has sent a large number of experts, doctors, teachers and engineering and technical personnel to Africa to help raise Africa's ability of realizing self-development.
Under the framework of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, the Chinese government substantially implemented its promise to train talents for Africa. And China has trained more than 6,400 people of various abilities for 48 African countries in the past two years,.
"Education, cultural exchanges and human resources training have become dynamic sectors in Sino-African cooperation," said He from CASS.
The mutual political trust between China and Africa has increased year by year. China welcomed 12 African presidents or heads of government in 2005. At the third China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing next year, Chinese and African leaders will hold their first summit.
The development of China-Africa relations is not affected by temporary factors, but is rather a strategic choice on both sides based on long-term interests, said Su from CAFU. "It has always been an essential component part of China's foreign policy to develop relations with Africa," Su said.