"Our assistance is not designed to increase Africa's debt; it is designed to increase the region's capacity to develop and improve living conditions for its people," the Premier told Kaberuka, who is in China for the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the AfDB and the African Development Fund (ADF), which open in the Chinese city of Shanghai Wednesday.
Both men discussed China's relations with Africa and its support for the Bank's development efforts in the region. The Prime Minister underscored his country's participation in the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) and assured that Beijing would also respond positively to the Bank's request for resources to replenish the ADF, the Bank Group's soft loan arm.
Expressing his gratitude for China's support for the Bank and for its role in the MDRI and in poverty reduction in Africa, Kaberuka said there were countries in the region that could could no longer carry any more debt, adding that the Bank was particularly concerned about these countries.
The Prime Minister also said that China supported development and stability in Africa and expressed the hope that "peace and stability will be restored in the Darfur region in Sudan" through negotiations and implementation of the relevant UN resolutions, especially the second phase of the Annan Plan.
The AfDB said in a release that Jiabao would Wednesday preside over the opening session of the Group's two-day 2007 Annual Meetings. 15 May 2007 - PANA
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