President of Madagascar arrives in Shanghai for ADB meeting

President of Madagascar Marc Ravalomanana arrived in Shanghai on Monday evening for the upcoming annual board meetings of the African Development Bank (ADB) Group.

He was the second head of state to come for the ADB meetings, following President of Cape Verde Pedro Pires, who landed in Shanghai earlier Monday.

Ravalomanana will also attend some business seminars on the sidelines of the ADB board meetings, which are aimed at further tapping the potentials of cooperation between China and Africa.

The 2007 Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of ADB Group are scheduled to be held in Shanghai from May 16 to 17, at which Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will deliver a speech.

It will be the first time the annual board meetings of the ADB are held in Asia, and the second time outside Africa. In 2001, the bank's annual board meetings were held in Spain.

It is another significant Africa-related event in China, following the Beijing Summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum held in November 2006.

Themed "African and Asia: Partners in Development", the meetings will focus on infrastructure development in Africa, regional integrity and poverty relief.

About 2,000 people are expected to attend the meetings, including finance ministers and governors of the central banks of member states, representatives of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other regional development finance organizations and non-governmental organizations.

Founded in 1964, the ADB has 77 members from Africa, America, Europe and Asia. China became a member in 1985.

Source: Xinhua