Chinese Ambassador to Cabo Verde Du Xiaocong considers the potential for greater Cabo Verdean exports to China to be enormous, and his country will welcome them, the Chinese Embassy in Praia says.

The embassy issued a written statement quoting Mr Du as saying so in an article he wrote for a Cabo Verdean newspaper, Expresso das Ilhas.

Mr Du wrote that Cabo Verdean exports to China were worth a mere US$28,700 last year, just 0.047 percent of the value of all Cabo Verdean exports.

He said representatives of the government and enterprises in Cabo Verde had attended the annual China International Import Expo in Shanghai in an effort to increase exports to China.

Cabo Verde hopes Chinese enterprises can help develop a maritime special economic zone on and around the island of São Vicente, and China can be trusted to play its part, his embassy quotes the ambassador as saying.