China is of great

help to African countries in their efforts to deal with the current

global financial crisis and the worst world economic downturn since

the Great Depression in the 1930s, Zambian Minister of Finance

Situmbeko Musokotwane told Xinhua here on Saturday.

Musokotwane, who is in Washington to attend the two-day

annual spring sessions of the World Bank and the International

Monetary Fund (IMF), said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua

that the Chinese assistance includes efforts to save jobs for

Zambians by the Chinese mining company, and offering the

low-interest loans to African countries including his nation.

"The Chinese mining company in Zambia is not going to lay off

any one," he said. "They are not cutting jobs."

Due to the current global financial crisis, the mining industry in

Zambia is the hardest hit as African countries are feeling the effect

of the financial crisis, which started some six months ago in the

United States, said the minister.

"For us, the biggest pain is in the mining industry," he said. "Our

ability to ensure the financial stability also declined."

The mining industry has been the economic and social backbone

for Zambia since the 1930s. Since that time a wide spectrum of

other metalliferous and non-metalliferous resources have been

discovered in the East African country.

Zambia is internationally recognized as a major producer of

copper and cobalt. It ranks as the world's seventh largest producer

of copper, generating 3.3 percent of the western world's

production, and world's second largest producer of cobalt, which

accounts for 19.7 percent of the world total.

Meanwhile, the minister said that after the November 2006

China- Africa Summit in the Chinese capital Beijing, China had

offered low-interest loans to Africa, including Zambia.

"Obviously, China is providing low-interest loans to Zambia, (

and) not just Zambia, but Africa," the minister said.

The two-day Beijing Summit, highlighting "friendship, peace,

cooperation and development," drew 41 heads of state or

government and senior officials of 48 African countries that have

diplomatic ties with China, as well as representatives from regional

and international organizations.

The Summit was held within the framework of the China-Africa

Cooperation Forum (CACF), which was jointly proposed and

established by China and some African countries in 2000, with the

aim of "equal negotiation, enhancing understanding, increasing

consensus, strengthening friendship and promoting cooperation."

The CACF is a mechanism for China-Africa collective dialogue

and cooperation to cope with new challenges and facilitate common

development.

In the Saturday interview, the Zambian minister also said that he

hopes to see more Chinese investment in Zambia and other African

countries.