Having enjoyed a boom in bilateral trade and investment in recent years, Africa and China now should move swiftly to forge a new partnership for mutual benefit, Ghanaian President John Kufuor recently suggested.

With rich resources, huge market potential, technical know-how and capital, Africa and China can achieve a win-win cooperation, Kufuor said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Wednesday.

Kufuor made the remarks prior to the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) scheduled for Nov. 3-5, which will be the highest-level and the largest meeting between Chinese and African leaders, since China and African countries started to forge cooperative ties in the 1950s.

He will join some 30 African heads of state or government and their Chinese counterparts in the conference, with aims to blueprint the future of China-Africa cooperation after 50 years of traditional friendship.

Africa wants to engage with China as it is becoming increasingly influential in the world, Kufuor said.

Africa is determined to seek partners who can help implement the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the continent's own ambitious plan for "Africa Renaissance" after decades of poverty and conflicts.

Trade balance, technology transfer and investment would be big issues during the FOCAC conference, and African leaders "definitely" want to explore China-Africa trade possibilities, Kufuor said.

"It (the conference) will be very significant because... we will talk openly and frankly to each other, with a view to explore better chances of getting benefits both on the African side as well as for the Chinese side," he said.

The year 2006 has been termed as China's "Year of Africa" since China released its first African policy paper earlier this year, putting forward proposals for an all-round cooperation with Africa in various fields in the coming years.

"I think the description is correct," Kufuor said. "In the past one or two years China has made a very significant move toward Africa... and the China-Africa relationship is being lifted to an all-time high level of cooperation."

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao visited 10 African countries, including Ghana, in April and June this year respectively.

Chinese and African officials have expressed the desire for economic, cultural and political cooperation, and African countries have signed economic development contracts with China.

"I know African leaders are going to China to carry out negotiations for more cooperation," Kufuor said.

"We want the Chinese people not to come for trade only, but also bring technological know-how as well as capital with them, to share with us on a win-win basis," he said.

The president encouraged Chinese investors to be engaged in areas such as energy, mining, agriculture and aquaculture in his country, which is rich in gold, diamond, iron and other natural resources.

Kufuor said he would "maximize" the efforts to seize the opportunity at the Beijing summit, to woo Chinese investors to Ghana, an exemplary country with regard to political stability and an investor-friendly atmosphere in west Africa.

"I want to talk with the Chinese government to come to Ghana with more projects. For instance, we want to develop a hydropower project," he said.

A leading producer of cocoa in the world, Ghana would also seek cooperation with Chinese investors in its cocoa industry, he said.

As of March 2006, Chinese investors have started up more than 200 businesses in Ghana's manufacturing, service industry, tourism, construction and agricultural sectors, ranking second among all foreign investors in the country, in terms of the number of projects.

China now also ranks as the second largest exporter to Ghana, after Nigeria, with bilateral trade reaching 769 million U.S. dollars in 2005.

Kufuor said he was deeply impressed by China's development during his visit to China in 2002.

"I got the feeling that China is on the fast track to development, and is becoming a big power," he said. "Even small traders in Ghana now are going to China to trade, to buy from China."