Representatives from the ruling parties of nine African countries arrived in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Thursday afternoon, starting the second leg of their China visit.

In the four-day tour in Heilongjiang, the delegates, including 17 members from ruling parties of the nine African countries will visit Hahang Group, a state-owned enterprise, as well as Daqing and Qiqihar, an important oil production base and heavy industrial base of China, respectively.

Provincial leaders of Heilongjiang will brief the delegates on the current situation of foreign trade and agricultural development in the province. During their visit in Beijing, they attended a seminar on further cementing inter-party and nation-to- nation relations between China and African countries.

The delegation will tour Shandong Province in east China as well. The members of the delegation are from Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Niger, Rwanda, Seychelles and Togo. They were invited by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Recent years have seen frequent exchanges of visits between leaders of China and African nations and enhancement of cooperation in international affairs. According to the international department, 104 officials of ruling parties from 24 African countries have visited China for exchanges of views with their Chinese counterparts since 1998.

Source: Xinhua