Ｆｉｒｓｔ Ｖｉｃｅ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ ｏｆ Ｃａｐｅｖｅｒｄｅａｎ Ｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ Ｐｏｐｕｌａｒ Ａｓｓｅｍｂｌｙ Ｍａｒｉｏ Ｍａｔｏｓ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， Mario Matos， first vice president of the National Popular Assembly of Cape Verde， as head of the delegation of the Cape Verde-China Friendship Group of the Assembly paid a friendly visit to Beijing， Shanghai and Shandong from April 19 to 26， 2006.The delegation attended the reception in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cape Verde. Xu Jialu， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， met with the delegation. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu， Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress Zhou Muyao， and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Provincial People’s Congress Mo Zhengkui， respectively met with the delegation. The delegation paid an official call on the Shanghai Caohejing New Technology Development Zone Company and the Administration Committee of the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Bonded Area， and visited some enterprises in Shandong Province.

Mario Matos said， Cape Verde-China friendly relations have entered the best time in history. Following Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing’s visit to Cape Verde， many high-level delegations of Cape Verde visited China one after another. Cape Verde has maintained political stability for many years. Its natural conditions are good for developing tourism and transportation. With the unique charm of active volcanoes and white sand beaches， its tourism has been developing at the rate of 12 percent for years in succession. But， as Cape Verde is a small island country with an area of only 4，033 square kilometers and a shortage of natural resources， its economy develops at a low rate. Mario Matos said， China has found the road of development that suits to its conditions. Focusing on economic construction， China learns advanced technologies and experience from other countries. Cape Verde should learn experience from China and develop cooperation with China in the economic and technological fields.

When visiting the economic development zone in Shanghai， Mario Matos said， the National Popular Assembly is considering formulating laws and regulations for setting up bonded areas in the country. Located 500 kilometers west to the African continent， Cape Verde is a hub linking Africa， Europe and America. The Cape Verde government is becoming more and more aware of the importance of construction of ports and roads and providing good service， and hopes to take its geographic advantages to develop air， sea and land communication. China’s development zones have created wealth and employment opportunities. The government provides a complete set of services including water， electricity， traffic and other daily life conveniences for investors， and market information for sales of their products. Cape Verde should learn management experience from China， and set up its own economic development and bonded zones according to its own national conditions. The delegation had talks with the Chinese side on how to protect ecological environment， transform technology into commodity and create values.

The delegation visited the Shandong Shouguang International Vegetable Fair. Cape Verde has little land under cultivation， the soil is poor and annual rainfall less than 200 mm. The technology of using plant nutritive liquid and drip irrigation used by the farmers in Shouguang in growing vegetables is suitable for Cape Verde to develop ecological agriculture. The delegation hoped to introduce China’s advanced technology.