BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- More than 11,000 professionals from Africa have received training in China since 2004, China's Ministry of Commerce announced Thursday.

China received 2,963 African trainees in 2004, and last year the number surged to 4,887 studying trade, agriculture, forestry, fishery, public health care, telecommunications, education and environmental protection.

More than 3,900 African professionals are studying in China this year.

The statistics were released ahead of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the highest-level and largest meeting of Chinese and African leaders since the 1950s, from Nov. 3 to 5.

The FOCAC is a mechanism for collective dialogue and cooperation to cope with new challenges and facilitate common development.

About 30 African heads of state or government and their Chinese counterparts will attend, aiming to outline future cooperation after 50 years of friendship.

"China and African countries are developing and lots of experiences China have obtained during its social and economic construction can be shared with the African countries," said Li Yuanyuan, an Africa expert with the prestigious Peking University.

"African technicians, business managers and specialists could improve their skills and increase their understanding of China through the training program," he said.

China's efforts to boost bilateral cooperation in human resources with African countries came after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's promised to help African countries train 10,000 professionals at the end of 2003 when he attended the FOCAC's 2nd ministerial conference in Addis Ababa.

"The training program also helps create a platform for the Chinese enterprises to develop their business in Africa", Li said.

China-Africa economic ties have developed rapidly in recent years. MOC statistics show that the two-way trade volume has rocketed from 4 billion U.S. dollars in 1995 to close to 40 billion U.S. dollars in 2005.

Chinese direct investment in Africa has amounted to 1.18 billion U.S.dollars, with more than 800 Chinese enterprises based on the continent.

With China's gradual increase of imports from Africa, bilateral economic ties have progressed to a new level, said Li, predicting that the ties will continue to expand. Enditem