China-Africa co-op photo exhibition held in Sierra Leone

FREETOWN, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- On the occasion of the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Sierra Leone Qiu Shaofang on Monday officially opened a five-day photo exhibition to demonstrate the development strides that has taken place between China and Africa.

The photo exhibition gives a vivid glimpse of the fruitful cooperation between China and African countries like Sierra Leone in a wide range of areas including infrastructure development, agriculture, health and energy.

At the opening ceremony at the Upper Gallery of the Parliament building in Freetown , Republic of Sierra Leone this morning , Ambassador Qiu Shaofang said, the exhibition is meant to show the achievements of the follow-up activities of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa cooperation.

He said the successful summit of 2006 turned a new chapter of Sino-Africa friendship as it helped "the Chinese and African leaders forge a new type of strategic partnership that features political equality and mutual trust, economic win-win cooperation and cultural exchanges."

He said during the past three years, China has endeavored to implement the declaration of the Summit, noting that in the case of Sierra Leone, the government of China will fully implement all the eight measures by the end of 2009. They include the construction of a one hundred bed multipurpose hospital, two rural schools in the city of Freetown, malaria prevention and treatment center, agricultural experts to work with the country's agriculture ministry.

Representing the foreign minister who is attending the 4th Ministerial Conference in Egypt, the Director General in the Foreign Ministry, Alhaji Sullay Daramy described China's cooperation with Africa especially the Republic of Sierra Leone as "dynamic and strategic in all fields of development from agriculture to technology, to medicine and even infrastructure."

He thanked the government of China for their development assistance to Sierra Leone and ended by saying "we are always in support of the one China Policy and further look toward to more cooperation."

The opening session attracted a large number of distinguished personalities including the Speaker of Parliament of Sierra Leone, Justice Abel Strong, cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and members of the diplomatic community.