BEIJING - Namibia, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia heard that relations between party to party are key factors to socialist party development and resource building, given the increasing wholesale political changes facing global politics.

A ruling Swapo Party delegate said this last Monday during a two-week visit to the People's Republic of China, as part of a three-tier African country delegation at the invitation of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC).

Besides Namibia, other participating countries were Sierra Leone and Ethiopia.

Head of the Namibian delegation, Swapo Secretary for Information and Publicity Jerry Ekandjo, stressed the importance of interaction between like-minded parties saying that it is one that his organization will draw lessons from to further strengthen the support base of Swapo.

At the same time, the meeting further aimed at exploring ways of working together to solidify Sino-African relations at party level.

Lately, Sino-African relations have come under the spotlight as pressure is being piled on the world's most populated country on what her real intention is in Africa.

Some commentators believe that Africa's abundant natural resources is what China is casting its eyes on, triggering a new race between the West and the East.

China however says it is simply driven by the simple virtue of peaceful existence and mutual benefits and seeks not to intrude in the affairs of African states. This was said by Wang Hua, Director General of the Center for International Exchanges, of the IDCPC.

Critics warn that an insignificant growth of China into Africa should be a cause for concern for the African countries that have adopted a "Look East Policy."

Since the 1970s, China's trade with Africa stood at U$12 million. This grew steadily to U$820 million in the 1980's. By the turn of the century trade stood at U$10 billion, and in 2006 it rose to U$50 billion.

At the moment, there are no less than 1 200 large scale infrastructural development projects being undertaken by Chinese investors on the continent, according to figures provided by the Economic Department of the IDCPC with a U$100 billion mark, said Zhong Weiyun, Deputy Director General of the Bureau of African Affairs, IDCPC, exceeding its initial target date of 2010.

This has made China the third largest trading partner of Africa, after the United States of America and the European Union.

Hua criticized western media for seeing the bad in China's efforts to help develop African economies.

Swapo and the CPC share a history dating back to the struggle years - where China provided Swapo with materials and financial assistance.

The Communist Party of China invited senior officials dealing with mobilization, information and publicity from SWAPO Party in Namibia, the All People's Congress, APC, in Sierra Leone, and EDPF from Ethiopia for a two-week exchange programme.

by John Ekongo

New Era Newspaper