China Daily launches its Africa edition, the first English-language newspaper published in Africa by a Chinese media enterprise, on Dec 14.

Related reading:  Congratulatory messages for launch of China Daily Africa Weekly

China Daily Africa Weekly marks a significant milestone in the overseas development of China Daily and joins the paper's international stable of publications in the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific as well as Hong Kong.

"The relationship between China and the African continent is one of the most significant relationships in the world today. It is growing and complex and not always understood -- not just by those in other parts of the world but Africans and Chinese, too," said Zhu Ling, China Daily's publisher and editor-in-chief. "We hope to set that right and that is why China Daily, China's largest English-language newspaper, is launching an Africa edition."

The newspaper, which will be circulated throughout the continent and will also be available in digital format, will look at the precise nature of Chinese involvement in Africa and also the prominent role many Africans are playing in China.

Chinese and African leaders and diplomats have expressed congratulations on the launch.

State Councilor Dai Bingguo said the Africa weekly would be a channel of good communication between Chinese and African people.

Abdul'ahat Abdurixit, president of the Chinese-African People's Friendship Association, said the launch of an African edition by China Daily "will surely help better communication, both at the official and people-to-people level, between China and Africa. May the relations between the two sides grow and prosper. My congratulations to China Daily on this endeavor".

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said the Africa Weekly should report the voice of China and advance the Sino-African friendship.

Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office, said the publication would spread China's voice and help strengthen friendship between Chinese and African people.

Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said for decades, China Daily has played an active role in reporting the Sino-African relationship to the world. "I wish China Daily Africa Weekly provides China and Africa a better understanding of each other, advancing the Sino-African strategic partnership to a new level."

Chinese Minister of Culture Cai Wu said the new weekly will give African people a comprehensive and reliable guide to China. "It will deepen the traditional friendship and promote cultural exchanges between China and Africa, taking the Sino-African strategic partnership to a more advanced level."

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission, said she profoundly congratulate China Daily for the launch of the African edition. "This edition by China's leading English-language newspaper is an eloquent testimony of the cordial and excellent relations between Africa and China, which have passed through several stages of evolution."

Other Chinese officials such as Li Zhaoxing, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 11th National People's Congress; Zhao Qizheng, director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC; Ai Ping, vice-minister of the International Departement of the Central Committee of CPC; Hao Ping, vice-minister of education; Niu Dun, vice-minister of agriculture; Huang Danhua, vice-chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission; Wei Jianguo, vice-chairman of China Center for International Economic Exchanges; and Li Xiaolin, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, also expressed their congratulations.

Chinese companies such as China Development Bank, China-Africa Development Fund, Bank of China, China National Electric Engineering Co, China Railway Construction Corporation, China Civil Engineering Construction Co, Chinese ambassadors to African nations Kenya, South Africa and Ghana; and African ambassadors to China such as Ambassador of the F.D.R of Ethiopia, the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, South Africa and Nigeria, and international organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme in China speak highly of the publication of the Africa Weekly and wish China Daily continues to extend its influence in the continent.

China Daily Group is an authoritative provider of information, analysis, comment and entertainment to global readers. China Daily has firmly established itself as the leading English-language news organization in China since its founding in 1981.

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