On the evening of August 5, 2009, Liu Guijin, special envoy of the Chinese government on African affairs, told a reporter of Xinhua News Agency that China is willing to join hands with the African countries to find a way out of and tide over the crisis as countries around the world face the escalating impact from the global financial crisis.

In November this year the fourth ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Egypt. Against the special background of global financial crisis, how to effectively deal with and survive the crisis will be one of the hot topics of the participants. The conference will thus draw wide attention from the international community.

"The Chinese government will honor its commitments and, on the basis of not decreasing assistance to Africa, encourage the Chinese businesses to increase investment in and imports from Africa and support Africa's agricultural development. The Chinese side will discuss with all the other participants sound countermeasures and tide over the crisis hand in hand with African countries." Liu told the reporter.

He noted that while reviewing the various activities launched since the establishment of FOCAC the participants will discuss new measures on strengthening the China-Africa trade and economic cooperation. Special focus will be put on fundamentally solving Africa's food security issue through helping the African countries improve agricultural productivity.

Talking about the development of China-Africa trade and economic cooperation, he pointed out that the bilateral trade has grown rapidly from US$10.6 billion in 2000 to US$106 billion last year. However, the bilateral trade volume has felt this year due to the impact of the global financial crisis. He said that as the two sides complement each other with advantages and deepen the bilateral cooperation the China-Africa trade and economic cooperation will enjoy a promising future after a short period of difficulties.

He reiterated firm opposition to the "politicization" of some western media and organizations of China's investment in Africa. "The relations between China and African countries are transparent, open and non-exclusive. China supports and encourages African countries to actively engage in bilateral or multilateral cooperation with western countries," he stressed.

With regard to China-Africa energy cooperation, he said that China, as the largest developing country with the fastest growing economy, will naturally consume part of energy and other resources in the process of development. But China's cooperation with Africa is not what some foreign media have described as "just staring at the oil and mineral".

According to a report of the World Bank issued in July last year, China plays an important role of infrastructure construction and making investment in Africa. He noted that the Chinese government will continue to actively support the efforts of African countries of seeking social and economic progress and improvement of people's livelihood.