By Tichaona Chifamba

African countries applaud China for honoring all pledges made under the eight-point plan for assistance to Africa, enunciated by President Hu Jintao at the Forum on Africa-China (FOCAC) summit in Beijing three years ago, a senior Zimbabwean official said.

"If you look at the eight-point plan, you can see that they have covered every aspect," Acting Secretary for Foreign Affairs Rofina Chikava told Xinhua in an interview on Monday.

"Since the landmark Beijing summit, significant progress has been made in implementing commitments made under its eight-point plan. During the period, the volume of trade between Africa and China has doubled while remarkable growth has been experienced in Chinese investment in infrastructure projects in critical areas such as energy, transport and communications, as well as tourist traffic to Africa.

"Later, when we complete the agenda of the eight-point plan, we can then expand on to other areas. I think right now what we are saying is what we are concentrating on is to see results out of this relationship and expansion will come after achieving results from the eight-point plan which we started from 2006."

She also praised the mutual relationship between China and Africa, saying China was engaging the continent as an equal partner.

"I think the relationship is mutual. When you have a friend who comes in your house to discuss issues, that friend is not colonizing. But if a friend comes to dictate, that is colonizing. China is not dictating anything. We negotiate we agree. And it is a mutual agreement," she said.

The official refuted the allegations that China was engaging Africa in a new form of colonization.

Her remarks came as President Robert Mugabe told the Fourth Ministerial Conference of FOCAC in Egypt on Sunday that the whole world should emulate the Chinese development model, which had seen a miracle economic transformation, yet China had not plundered the resources of other countries.

Mugabe was addressing the conference, which ends on Monday, in his capacity as chairman of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao also unveiled a new eight- point plan outlining his country's assistance to Africa over the next three years.

The new plan builds on the successes of, and supersedes, President Hu's eight-point plan and includes a concessionary loan facility of 10 billion U. S. dollars to fund various projects on the continent. It also establishes a China-Africa partnership to address climate change, with China promising to fund 100 clean energy projects across Africa.

Science and technology cooperation will be enhanced and 100 African post-doctoral fellows will carry out further research in China.

China will also provide a special loan facility of 1 billion dollars for small and medium-sized enterprises.

A zero tariff on 95 percent of products from the least developed countries will be implemented, while further cooperation will be strengthened in agriculture, health, education and culture.