China devoted to boosting women's collaborations with Africa

• Source: Xinhua
• [14:58 October 14 2009]
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The visiting president of the All - China Women's Federation (ACWF) Chen Zhili said on Tuesday that China has been making hard efforts to promote exchange and cooperation with African countries in terms of women's affairs in the past 50 years.

ACWF, the biggest women's organization in China, started collaborations with African women's organizations in early 1950s, Chen, also vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress told Xinhua in an exclusive interview at China-Africa Women's Forum 2009 in Cairo.

"We have carried out a series of exchanges and cooperations with African countries after the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2006, which were well received by African women," said Chen.

She said that the summit, with its declaration in China-Africa cooperation and the Beijing Action Plan 2007-09, introduced women's exchanges into the whole framework of the collaborations between the two sides, and provided new platform for such exchanges.

Chen said that since 2006, ACWF has stepped up the mutual visits of Chinese and African women at high levels. It received many visits of wives of African leaders, chiefs of women's federations and ministers in charge of women's affairs. It also sent delegations to visit African countries and attend international conferences there.

She said that ACWF has already established contacts and exchanges with women's organizations in 51 African countries, and provided micro-finance loans to women in 45 African countries in the past 50 years. In the period of 2007-09, China provided a total of 6.58 million yuan (about $one million) to 13 African countries.