Chinese state company CITIC Construction Co will invest US$5 billion in an agricultural project in Angola next year, said Liu Guigen, president of the company’s Africa branch. The project covers 500,000 hectares, the newspaper China Daily reports.

Mr Guigen told the media outlet that the investment would focus on production of corn, soya beans and wheat, “to help rebuild the agricultural sector and reduce the insufficient food production in the country”.

This will be CITIC’s second investment in the agricultural sector of Angola. The firm operates as a subsidiary of CITIC Group Co, China’s first state-owned investment corporation.

Present in Angola since 2008, CITIC Construction has already developed two 10,000-hectare farms in Angola. The firm however is best known for building the Kilamba Kiaxi project, a satellite city located about 30 kilometres from the capital Luanda.

The US$10 billion project included the construction of 20,000 houses, kindergartens and schools, according to China Daily.