Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said in Changsha Monday that her country values its cooperation with central China's Hunan Province on hybrid rice production.

Johnson-Sirleaf made the remarks in a meeting with Zhou Qiang, acting governor of Hunan Province.

She said more than 70 percent of the Liberian population are engaged in agriculture, mainly in rice production. She hoped to see wider utilization of the technologies for hybrid rice production in Liberia so as to improve local people's living standards.

Zhou said as the "land of fish and rice" in China and a province rich in mineral resources, Hunan has big potential in furthering cooperation with Liberia in agriculture, infrastructure building and energy exploration.

Hunan will continue such cooperation with Liberia in the future, Zhou added.

Johnson-Sirleaf noted Liberia and China can well complement each other through bilateral cooperation and an important purpose of his current trip to China is to enhance the strategic cooperative partnership between Liberia and China.

The Liberian president will go to the Hunan Research Center for Hybrid Rice and meet Chinese experts there. She will also visit the Hunan Provincial Museum, which exhibits cultural relics dating back 2100 years.

Johnson-Sirleaf kicked off his China visit on Oct. 28 and will attend a summit between China and Africa running from Nov. 4 to 5 in Beijing.

Source: Xinhua