China pledges more help to other developing countries

Chinese President Hu Jintao said Thursday that his country will provide more help to other developing countries. He made the pledge at a Group of 20 (G20) summit in this French seaside resort. China would provide new loans to help developing countries improve infrastructure and would further reduce tariffs for the least developed countries, Hu told world leaders at the summit. Between 2010 and 2012, China will provide Africa 10 billion U.S. dollars in the form of soft loans, the bulk of which will go to infrastructure development, he said. Between 2011 and 2015, China will build 200 infrastructure projects in clean energy and environmental protection in other developing countries, he announced. China will give zero-tariff treatment to 97 percent of the tariff items of exports to China from the least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China, he said. "We hope this move will also help achieve the development goals of the Doha Round at an early date," said the Chinese president. Food security, infrastructure, and tariff-free and quota-free treatment to the least developed countries have been the focus of the G20 consultations on development this year, Hu said. "They are also the key areas in which China has helping other developing countries within the framework of South-South cooperation." Regarding food security, he said, China had, by the end of 2010, provided 4.3 billion yuan (680 million dollars) in food aid through bilateral channels. To help African countries cope with severe droughts and food crisis, China has announced 533.2 million yuan (83.9 million dollars) in emergency food aid to the affected countries, he added. Regarding infrastructure, Hu said, China had, by the end of 2010, completed 632 infrastructure projects in other developing countries.