African diplomatic envoys visit Chongqing and explore cooperation opportunities. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

A delegation of diplomatic envoys from 29 countries in Africa visited Southwest China's Chongqing municipality from Dec 1 to 6.

During the visit, the delegation visited Chongqing's representative transportation projects, companies, and World Cultural Heritage sites, including Guoyuan Port in Liangjiang New Area, which is China's largest railway, highway, and waterway combined transportation hub along inland rivers.

At the China (Chongqing)–Africa Cooperation Conference held on Dec 3, representatives from China and Africa discussed further cooperation in the areas of economy, trade, and education.

Zhou Yuxiao, China's ambassador for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, said that the visit will bring Chongqing and Africa closer to each other, as well as promote the China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership.

Martin Mpana, ambassador of Cameroon to China and head of the delegation, sees the potential of cooperation between Africa and Chongqing. According to Mpana, Africa can use China's experiences as references to solve the problems during development.

In recent years, Chongqing's districts and counties have partnered with 13 regions in Africa. From January to October this year, the total export-import volume between Chongqing and Africa reached 8.2 billion yuan ($1.17 billion), a year-on-year growth of 18.2 percent.

Chongqing's companies have invested in automobile, medicine, construction, mining, and infrastructure projects in African countries like Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, and Egypt, while African countries have invested in 83 companies in Chongqing.