Angola eager to welcome more Chinese investors, says ambassador

Angola's ambassador to China said the southern African country of 30 million people is a huge market and keen to welcome more Chinese investors to the country.

"Chinese enterprises are making great contributions to Angola in helping rebuild its infrastructure ravaged by its previous civil turmoil. These include highways, hospitals, schools and others," Joao Salvador dos Santos Neto said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

The envoy pointed to the China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group Co Ltd (CTCE), which has been doing business in Angola for 11 years. He said the company's largest unit in the capital of Luanda has some 800 employees, 60 percent of whom are Angolans.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations in 1983, hundreds of Chinese enterprises have been doing business in Angola.

Most Chinese enterprises and private investors are engaged in industrial projects, helping promote Angola's economic and social development while boosting local employment, the ambassador said.

Last year, bilateral trade reached $28.05 billion, with exports from China to Angola hitting $2.2 billion and imports from Angola to China climbing to $25.799 billion, a year-on-year rise of 26.76 percent.

Angola is China's second-largest trade partner in Africa.

The country's mild climate, fertile soils, rich flora and fauna also make the country rich in agricultural resources, the ambassador noted, and this is an area Chinese investors can explore.

With a coastline of around 1,650 kilometers which is extremely rich in fish, mollusks and shellfish, Angola also has unique and diverse aquatic products awaiting Chinese partners, he said.

Angola is the third largest oil producer in Africa, has abundant natural gas resources and is the fifth biggest producer of diamonds in the world.

Last October, President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco paid a state visit to China, meeting China's top leaders and presiding over the signing of two agreements promoting bilateral trade and mutual progress, the ambassador said.

Most projects involving Chinese investors were started years ago, but the Belt and Road Initiative is helping to inspire talks so a lot of projects are being negotiated, the envoy said.

"Angola is now trying to diversify its economy in addition to its oil production and diamond exploration," he said, and interested investors can have opportunities in building railways, highways and airports among others.

During the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo held between June 26 and 29 in Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan province, more than 60 Angolan enterprises sent representatives to join the fair.

They held talks with potential Chinese partners, showing their enthusiasm to cooperate with potential trading partners, the ambassador said.

According to the organizing committee of the expo, the event drew more than 10,000 participants, including those from 53 African countries.

Currently, more than 190 Angolan students are studying in China on grants from the Chinese government and enterprises, the ambassador said. Some 500 others are expected to come to study in China over the next three years. These Angolan students will help boost bilateral ties, he added.