Chinese Vice-minister of Commerce Qian Keming has said the value of direct investment in Angola by Chinese companies is now over US$12 billion, a sum which encourages others to invest there, Angop reports.

The Angolan news agency quotes Mr Qian as saying during a visit to Luanda that that many more Chinese companies are interested in investing in Angolan farms and factories.

He said only one other African country had more trade with China than Angola.

The report says that while in Luanda, Mr Qian met Angolan Secretary of State for International Cooperation and Angolan Communities Domingos Vieira Lopes and attended a meeting of the Angola-China Joint Commission for Economic and Trade Cooperation.

Angola and China concluded during Mr Qian’s visit an agreement to increase and speed up the growth in their economic engagement, Angop reports.