Algeria, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Sierra Leone also signed memorandums of understanding with China on November 5 to acknowledge its full market economy status.

To date, more than 60 countries have granted China the full market economy status, including 14 African countries.

Cooperation on malaria

At the summit, Hu promised to build 30 hospitals in Africa and provide 300 million yuan in grants to provide the drug artemisinin and build 30 malaria prevention and treatment centers in Africa.

Artemisinin is one of the new medicines researched and developed by China and registered worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) has assessed the drug to be the one of the most effective medicines to treat the disease. China has almost 80 percent of the world's supply of raw materials needed to produce artemisinin, since 90 percent of the world supply of artemisia, the major herb used in the drug, grows in the Wuling Mountain areas in Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces.

Sino-African cooperation in fighting malaria has been going on for three decades. Up to now, China has supplied anti-malaria medicines at no cost to more than 10 African countries, including Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Niger, Togo, the Central African Republic and Cameroon.

"We are ready now. We can produce artemisinin immediately after we receive orders from the Chinese Government. We can guarantee the timely supply of high-quality artemisinin medicine to African countries," the head of an artemisinin production factory said at the Sino-African Anti-Malaria Exhibition on November 5.

WHO data indicate that a total of 2.5 billion people live in malaria zones, especially in Africa. Of the 300 to 500 million malaria sufferers that emerge each year, Africans account for 90 percent. Malaria has become one of the greatest obstacles to development for African countries.

"We are preparing to establish two pharmaceutical factories in East Africa and West Africa. We expect to locally produce medicines in 2007," said Lu Chunming, General Manager of Beijing Holley-Cotec Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.