Luanda - Angola and China's Eximbank on Saturday signed 17 loan
agreements valued at more than $500m to finance various
post-war reconstruction projects, the finance minister said.
Angolan Minister of Finance, Carlos Alberto Lopes, told
AFP the loan deal would be used for the construction of hospitals,
energy, and drinking water treatment plants across eight of the
country's provinces.
"The signing of these agreements with the Angolan
government, reflects China's interest in supporting Angola in its
reconstruction and economic development, thanks to the political and
economic stability that Angola has enjoyed after the end of civil war,"
Eximbank vice presidents Liu Chen, told AFP.
Angola has maintained close economic ties with China
since peace returned to the country in April 2002. Africa's second
largest oil producer, it is the largest supplier of crude to China.
China has granted credit lines worth several billions
of dollars to the administration of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos
for the rebuilding of infrastructure destroyed during the civil war.