China will strengthen cooperation with Africa in agriculture and other areas in a bid to improve its overall relations with Africa, Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan said Thursday.

Tang told a score of African diplomats, mostly from French-speaking nations, that China will step up cooperation with African countries in agricultural development, infrastructure construction, human resources training and resources development.

The group of African diplomats came from the Republic of Congo, Togo, Burundi, Seychelles, Gabon, Benin, Djibouti, the Comoros, Niger, Rwanda, Central Africa, Morocco, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania and Mauritius. They are visiting China.

"China has always attached great importance to its relations with Africa, and considers its friendly cooperative relations with African and other developing nations as a starting point for its foreign relations," Tang said.

The state councilor said that in developing cooperation with African nations, China will bear in mind the principle of mutual benefit, human first and in diversified forms.

The China-African Cooperation Forum mechanism will be fully utilized, Tang said.

Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghong visited Africa last month, following a trip by Chinese President Hu Jintao earlier this year.

Source: Xinhua