China on Monday pledged 28 million dollars within the next three years 2002-2004 to finance portions of the Accra-Kumasi trunk road rehabilitation project. The visiting Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Yang Wenchang made the pledge when he paid a courtesy call on President John Agyekum Kufuor at the Castle, Osu.

Mr Wenchang, who is also in-charge of the Western Asian and African Affairs and Human Resources, is on a three-day working visit to Ghana. He said Ghana's debt of 100.8 million Yuan, an equivalent of 53.5 million dollars owed to China since 1961 has also been cancelled.

He said China's assistance to Ghana in the past had been in the fields of agriculture, public health and other social services and the visit marked a new impetus in the cordial relationship between the two countries.

Mr Wenchang said to improve on the balance of trade between them, Chinese businessmen would be encouraged to invest in the processing of most raw materials produced by Ghana for export and also contribute to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

He commended President Kufuor for his role as Ghana's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1971, when China wanted to secure a seat in the United Nations (UN).

Mr Wenchang extended an invitation from Chinese President Jiang Zemin to President Kufuor to visit China.

President Kufuor said, the visit of Mr Wenchang marks a new beginning in the relationship between Ghana and China, which he said, has been long standing, mutually respectful and beneficial.

He said the assistance by China to finance portions of the Accra-Kumasi road is a good gesture because the accidents on that road affect the country economically.

President Kufuor said China's support for NEPAD is laudable because China has huge markets with potentials for Africa, which is trying to evolve its small markets on the globe under the NEPAD initiative.

He accepted the invitation to visit China.