OUAGUADOUGOU, May 19: China will host the next annual assembly of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the bank’s governors have decided.

The governors voted at the end of this year’s annual assembly in the Burkina Faso capital late Thursday that China, one of its non-regional members, would host the annual meeting, scheduled for May 16 and 17, 2007, in Shanghai. The decision comes as China continues to step up its ties with Africa.

Last year, China bought 38.47m tons of African oil, representing about 30pc of the country’s total imports.—AFP