Workers fixing guard rails on a bridge in Bamako, capital of Mali. The bridge, built using Chinese aid funds, will be completed by September. [Photo/Xinhua]

Investment in Africa is set to increase, as Ding Qingfen has been discovering.

The crowd roars and someone shouts "Nice goal!" to the group of boys playing soccer on a narrow, dusty 50-square-meter field in a western suburb of Conakry, the capital city of Guinea.

The whistles and boos hanging in the air indicate just how popular soccer is with these boys, and they may soon find a better location for their games - a soon to be completed stadium just a few hundred meters to the north. The project, which covers 240,000 square meters, includes a standard ground track and soccer field with 50,000 seats.

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It is one of the many structures under construction using Chinese aid in this West African nation, which has a population of about 10 million, and upon completion at the end of this year it will be the largest stadium in the region.

"This is a great project and a treasure for the Guinean people," said Issa Soumah, head of the project and also a senior sports official from the Guinean government. "It provides local people with a place to play soccer and exercise, and it will also help promote the nation's sports overall."

Aid, however, is not the only thing linking China and Africa. Trade and investment are also surging between the two, and China has become an increasingly important role model of a successful transitional economy for African nations, which are working hard to accelerate economic development and improve local livelihoods.

Political turmoil broke out in a number of African nations late last year, and many countries, including those that have experienced social unrest, have "never been more eager than now to transform and grow their economies, and Chinese investment is more and more important (for them)", said Fu Ziying, China's vice-minister of commerce. "This provides Chinese investors with a huge number of promising opportunities," Fu, also team leader of a ministry delegation to Africa in April, told China Daily.

The Ministry of Commerce sends an annual delegation to Africa, seeking opportunities for economic and trade cooperation. This year, the delegation was the biggest ever, and the 50-strong team included representatives of major State-owned and private companies from a range of industries. It visited six nations: Mauritania, Guinea, Mali, Ethiopia, Egypt and Tunisia.

High-ranking officials from the African nations displayed their determination to develop the local economies, providing potential business opportunities for Chinese companies.

"We have been mulling over investing overseas. Africa is a strategic region and also our priority market, as it has fantastic consumption potential," said Teng Hexian, chairman of Beijing Runfar Investment Group.

The private company has signed a preliminary cooperative framework with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd to establish the largest auto plant in Benin, with a total investment of 300 million yuan ($46 million). The Benin plant will be Runfar's first overseas investment.

But it's not only manufacturing opportunities that are enticing Chinese companies. Zhou Jiayi, vice-president of Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, told China Daily: "the African nations' commitment to boosting their economies and enhancing the infrastructure means plenty of business in hydropower construction."

Sinohydro is China's leading provider of hydropower construction services, and is ranked sixth nationwide in terms of outbound contract engineering. The company's business covers 15 African nations, including Angola and Sudan.

Historically, the majority of Chinese investment flowing into Africa has gone into the mining and agriculture industries, and China can still play a big role in those sectors. "Africa is rich in natural resources, and China can help the continent translate those advantages into commercial benefits by transferring technology and injecting capital," said Fu.

"Africa will be the first step for us going overseas, as the region has abundant resources. We are in discussions about a fairly big mining deal in Guinea," said Shi Mingwei, general manager of CPI International Minerals & Investment Co Ltd.