The Beijing Olympic Games will offer opportunities for people of other countries to better understand China and its people, Gabonese President Omar Bongo said Tuesday in a written interview with Xinhua.

"I hope that the Beijing Olympics will be a grand gathering that brings people from all over the world together," he said, noting that the Games will enable people of all countries to learn from, encourage, and respect each other.

On his impression about Beijing, Bongo, an old friend of the Chinese people who has visited China 10 times, said the city represents a mode of development under the mechanism of macroeconomic control.

Beijing is not only a city, it is a symbol that embodies Chinese people's determination to build theirs into a new nation, a nation that deserves its own place in today's world, Bongo said.

China is a model for the developing countries in this regard, he added.

Bongo also highlighted the smooth development of Gabon-China friendly relations of cooperation since the two countries forged the diplomatic ties in 1974.

"Thanks to the efforts of President Hu Jintao and myself, China and Gabon have formed genuine partnership for the benefits of our two peoples," Bongo said.

Noting that Gabon-China ties are very good with bilateral trade and economic cooperation steadily strengthened, the president said he hoped that bilateral ties will further develop, a development that conforms to the aspirations of the two peoples.

On Sino-African relations, Bongo said both the Chinese people and the African people underwent untold sufferings in the past because of wars and underdevelopment. China has managed to tackle the two challenges in a perfect and modest manner, while Africa is still feeling its way out, he said.

Therefore, Africa is willing to draw something useful from the Chinese mode so as to create its own mode of development compatible with its cultural identity, Bongo said.

He noted that China and Africa have established long-term relationship of cooperation, and the Sino-African Cooperation Forum, based on that cooperation, has become an indispensable instrument to further strengthen, expand and promote cooperation between both sides.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)