Chinese President Hu Jintao has just embarked on his state visits to eight African countries that will take him to both the northern and southern tips of the continent. This is his first trip abroad this year, and also his third visit to Africa as the head of state within a relatively short span of three years. The president's visit, coupled with Premier Wen Jiabao's seven-nation Africa tour in 2006 and official visits by other Chinese leaders in recent years, is indicative of the Chinese Government's priority to forge ahead with its relations with Africa.

For decades, China has maintained traditional ties with Africa, supporting the African nations in their fight against colonial rule and helping their economic development. Billions of dollars of financial aid has been injected into the economies of various African states, and tens of thousands of Chinese technical and engineering personnel have worked hard with local Africans in an effort to help change the poor and backward state of the continent. According to incomplete statistics, almost 900 Chinese whole-plant projects have been completed in Africa during the past half-century. Most of these are infrastructure projects ranging from hospitals, schools and power stations to transportation facilities, including the well-known Tanzania-Zambia Railway, a landmark project that stood for years as the testimony of Sino-Africa friendship. On the health front over 160,000 Chinese medical personnel have helped heal Africa's sick.

At the same time, African countries have also lent precious support to China in the international arena, backing the resumption of its legitimate seat in the United Nations and its entry into the World Trade Organization.

In the first six years of the new millennium, China and Africa have sped up the tempo of enhancing and expanding their traditional and cooperative relations. Bilateral trade, for instance, jumped 40 percent to hit $55 billion last year, with China's exports to Africa at $26.7 billion and its imports from Africa at $28.8 billion, rising 43 percent and 37 percent, respectively. To many, the development of Sino-Africa relations culminated in the Beijing Summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum last November, when China's top leadership presented an eight-point plan that maps out a new type of strategic partnership with the continent, including doubling China's aid, building more infrastructure facilities and training local technical staff. With that, a more solid foundation has been laid down for the two sides to further consolidate their friendly ties in an earnest and comprehensive manner.

Respectful of the sovereignty of other nations, China always adheres to the policy of noninterference in the internal affairs of others, and believes in mutual benefits for all parties concerned. Such seems to be the right approach of diplomacy in the modern era, as it goes in conformity with the spirit of building a harmonious global community and the common practice of seeking win-win prospects in international relations. Admittedly, China needs the African market as well as its energy and other resources to fuel economic growth, but in the meantime it also tries to meet the interests of the continent by helping boost local economies and striving for its political, social and cultural development.