Africa is now the hot word in China. And China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the nation's oil giant, was familiar with it more than a decade ago.

Co-operation began in 1995 when Sudan President Omar al Bashir visited China and talked to the then Chinese President Jiang Zemin on the possibility of inviting the Chinese oil company to develop business in Sudan, and to help the country establish a full-scaled petroleum industry system.

As China's largest oil producer, CNPC signed the first petroleum project contract in Sudan.

Today, CNPC's co-operative petroleum projects are scattered in 13 countries in Africa including Chad, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt, further enhancing mutual development in the oil industry.

The investment activities in Africa have promoted economic development and contributed to development of the local society, achieving a win-win situation for both sides.

The principles held by CNPC on mutual benefits and mutual development have been highly praised by African countries.

CNPC is dedicated to introducing advanced technology and supporting social development in African countries.

Dedication

As China's top State-owned conglomerate, CNPC has sent engineers and experts to build the petroleum industry in Sudan, with the same dedication and devotion they've given to their motherland.

Today, statistics speak of the Chinese company's contributions and achievements.

The company has joined their African friends to create a historical record in the world oil industry in terms of speed of construction.

The company built a 15-million-ton oil field in one and a half years. It also succeeded in establishing a pipeline totalling 1,500 kilometres in 11 months and took only two years to set up a refinery with a processing capacity of 2.5 million tons of crude oil.

In August 1999, Sudan started to export oil. The joint petroleum projects that CNPC has carried out in Sudan in the past decade has reversed Sudan's energy role from importer to exporter.

Moreover, the country has successfully built a whole modern petroleum industry system featuring a wide range of businesses covering upstream and downstream activities, from petroleum exploration and development, transportation, refining, petrochemical to marketing, plus petroleum technical and engineering services.

The Khartoum Refinery with an annual processing capacity of 5 million tons of crude oil was designed and is operated by CNPC. The factory also adopts Chinese standards and facilities.

Petroleum products range from crude oil, kerosene, diesel, aviation-used kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas, which have been exported to Europe and Sudan's neighbouring countries.

The founding of the polypropylene projects producing 15,000 tons annually and the factory for inter-texture bags have both filled the blank in the plastic and chemical industry, enriching Sudanese life.

More importantly, the country has become the third in the continent to produce and export polypropylene and plastic bags. Their products have been sold to countries including Egypt, Kenya and Ethiopia.

The transformation has boosted the local economy and enhanced stability as Sudan has seen its domestic economy rise by 7 per cent, with the inflation rate down to one digit.

The oil co-operation projects have received praise from leaders of both sides.

In November 2005, Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said that "the project is the model for South-South co-operation."

Sudan President Omar al Bashir said the success of co-operation in the country's petroleum industry has had a great impact on Sudan.

He said that "no CNPC, no oil industry in Sudan, not to mention the peace in south and north of Sudan."

Source: China Daily