Zimbabwe's Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said on Tuesday Africa will continue to work with China in pushing for the reform of the United Nations so that it caters for the needs of all member states.

Addressing a one-day symposium on China-Africa and China-Zimbabwe relations, Mumbengegwi said the UN needs to be reformed particularly the Security Council which has continued to be viewed as biased towards superpowers such as the United States and Britain.

"China and Africa will continue to wok together to reform the UN, especially the Security Council to ensure it is transparent and accountable," Mumbengegwi said.

He said China won many African friends when it vetoed, together with Russia, attempts by some western countries to punish Zimbabwe under chapter seven of the UN Charter.

Mumbengegwi said that support was a triumph of their shared commitment to the principal of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states.

China, he said, was an all weather friend for Africa because it provides development assistance without conditions.

Under its Forum on China-Africa Cooperation launched in 2000, China is seeking a new strategic partnership with Africa that is premised on the cardinal principals of sovereignty and win-win situation.

As a result of the policy, Africa has benefited from development assistance from the Asian country for construction of hospitals, rural schools and agricultural technological demonstration centres.

"Let us therefore continue to explore every possible avenue of cooperation between China and Africa to improve the lives of both peoples," Mumbengegwi said.

Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe Yuan Nansheng said there was greater scope for further strengthening of ties between the two countries.

"Our efforts should contribute towards deepening the China-Africa relations to address some of the challenges we may be facing," he said.

The one-day symposium attracted participants from a number of African embassies based in Zimbabwe, and ran under the theme "regional integration in southern Africa and China-Zimbabwe relations in the 21st century".

The symposium is the second to be held in Zimbabwe after a similar one in 2007.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2009)