Accra, Sept. 22, GNA - China has foreign reserves of $1,950 billion, the world's highest, Mr Yu Wenzhe, Chinese Ambassador in Ghana, said on Tuesday at a press briefing to highlight China's socio-economic development during the past 60 years.

He said China's foreign exchange reserves rose from a mere $1.577 billion in 1978 to $1,950 billion in 2008 to rank first in the world, adding that the "opening up policy" adopted by China accelerated its socio-economic development.

Mr Yu said China's GDP rose from 67.9 billion Yuan in 1952 to 30,067 billion Yuan, about $4,397.7 billion in 2008.

He said estimates indicate that China's contribution to the world's economic growth exceeded 20 per cent in 2008.

The People's Republic of China would be 60 years on October 1, 2009 and the Chinese people and their allies are expected to celebrate the country's 60th anniversary with pomp and pride. The stated achievements, he noted, was due to China's vigorous pursuance of a strategy or model that featured high speed socio-economic development, saying that China has metamorphosed from agricultural country to an industrial nation with the result that the country was now ranked the third largest manufacturing country in the world. On the strength of China's development, Mr Yu Wenzhe urged African Leaders to translate the Continent's advantage in natural resources to socio-economic development.

Mr Yu said in 2006, the output of 172 categories of Chinese products ranked first on the world market, adding that about 70 per cent of DVDs and toys; 50 per cent of telephone sets and shoes; one-third of colour television sets; bags and suitcases produced throughout the world were made in China.

He said China's comprehensive national strength had become stronger; its economy had developed at high growth rate and had experienced rapid infrastructure development in the fields of transportation, energy and telecommunication.

China has moved "from a society of having only adequate food and clothing to a well-off society," he said, adding that poor social development had made way for coordinated socio-economic development. Mr Yu said China has provided Ghana with a variety of economic and technical assistance since both countries established diplomatic relations in the 1960s. These included grants; interest-free loans; concessional loans; general goods and training of human resources, "even though China is still a developing country and is facing great challenges in her development process," he added.

He said China's investment in Ghana has been very vigorous even in the face of the global financial crises with the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) Report crediting China with 21 new projects during the first half of 2009 - the highest in terms of numbers and the second highest in terms of value.

In recent years China has registered 387 projects worth $235.18 million dollars.

Bilateral trade between China and Ghana has maintained a steady growth, Mr Yu said, adding "China has become the second largest exporting country to Ghana, just listing behind Nigeria. Of the total Ghanaian imports, import from China accounted for 13 per cent and 14 per cent in 2006 and 2007, respectively. However, Chinese imports from Ghana decreased for two consecutive years since 2005". The Chinese Ambassador said: "To achieve a sustainable and steady development of China-Ghana bilateral trade, both sides should adopt effective measures to balance the trade." 22 Sept. 09