China on Wednesday appealed to the international community to attach greater importance to helping African countries reach goals of durable peace and sustainable development.

Its deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Shen Guofang said the international community needs to assist these countries for their integration into the world economy, increase the flow of funds to them, reduce and cancel their external debts, and promote the transfer of technology and creation of digital opportunities for them.

Despite recent economic progress in Africa, Shen said, the gap between its development level and that of the world as a whole continues to widen.

Currently, 52 percent of the African population still live on less than one US dollar a day, when the continent accounts for the absolute majority of the world's 48 least developed countries, the absolute majority of the world's refugees and 90 percent of the world's children who have become orphans because of the death of their parents from HIV/AIDS, he said.

Taking the floor at the UN General Assembly, Shen cited the recent meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which was held in Beijing and attended by about 80 ministers from 45 African countries and representatives of some 20 regional organizations.

China's obligations made at the conference, including a reduction or cancellation of debts amounting to 10 billion RMB yuan owed by the heavily indebted poor African nations, marks its new contribution to the promotion of the South-South cooperation, Shen added.

(Xinhua 11/02/2000)