January 07, 2007	Sunday	Zilhaj 16, 1427

BANGUI, Jan 6: China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing has signed debt relief and aid agreements worth some $15 million with Central African Republic, the fifth African country to receive such aid over the past few days.

The package, signed late on Friday, included the cancellation of 5.5 billion CFA francs ($11 million) owed to Beijing by the former French colony as well as an aid payment of 1.9 billion CFA ($3.8 million).

Keen to feed its booming economy, China has been offering low interest loans, debt relief and other incentives to governments around the world's poorest continent in return for access to their vast reserves of minerals and oil.

China says its economic support to Africa helps fill a financing gap and is less prescriptive than Western aid. Critics say it undermines efforts by other lenders to root out corruption by attaching conditions to their loans.

Li has struck trade and aid deals with Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Chad during a regional tour over the past week. He will finish his trip with visits to Eritrea and Botswana.—Reuters