In the course of just one day Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held separate meetings in Beijing with the foreign ministers of nine African countries, including with a government official from Cabo Verde, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency quotes Mr Wang as telling his African counterparts on Monday that Sino-African cooperation was conducive to the development of infrastructure in Africa, so benefitting the continent economically and socially.

The report quotes one of the foreign ministers that Mr Wang spoke to, Luis Filipe Tavares of Cabo Verde, as saying Cabo Verde cherished its relationship with China, and was ready to increase Sino-Cabo Verde dialogue and cooperation, particularly cooperation in exploiting the sea.

Mr Tavares and the other African foreign ministers were in Beijing for a conference on Sino-African cooperation, Xinhua says.