Companies from China and Africa on Thursday in Beijing signed more than 40 business deals totaling about 17 billion dollars.

More than 400 participants from government agencies, financial institutions, business associations and enterprises attended the Seminar on China-Africa Business Cooperation on Thursday.

The deals, involving government departments, financial institutions and industrial enterprises, were signed at a day seminar before a Friday meeting to deliver the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

We need to have a platform government-to-government discussions, but also a company-to-company discussions, more joint ventures, more public, private partnerships.

“We need to have a platform government-to-government discussions, but also a company-to-company discussions, more joint ventures, more public, private partnerships.” said Roland Msiska,secretary to the Cabinet of Zambia.

The Chinese and African companies span the sectors of infrastructure, processing and manufacturing, finance, investment, energy, chemicals, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and ICT.

“The greatest concern of the African people is whether their resources can be more effectively developed. They also hope to achieve their goal of industrialization in a very steady way. These projects China signed with Africa are closely related with Africa’s industrialization and its fully using its own mineral and agricultural resources,” Han Meiqing Head, Cooperation and Development Department, China Chamber of International Commerce.

China, Africa ink $17 bln preliminary cooperation pacts: Xinhua: BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese companies and ba… https://t.co/f4WqQ00e2o — notivagos (@notivagos) July 28, 2016

At the forum last December in Johannesburg, China’s president Xi Jinping announced ten major China Africa cooperation plans for the next three years backed by 60 billion dollars including interest loans and preferential policies,