ALGIERS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China is ready to help supporting the development and diversification of the Algerian economy, Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Yang Guangyu said on Monday.
"We are confident in the economic future and we are ready to support the strategy of economic diversification in Algeria," Yang Guangyu told a press conference at the embassy in Algiers.
Algerian government is struggling to diversify the country's economy which is still dependent on oil revenues.
Oil prices have witnessed spectacular drop, going from around 110 dollars a barrel in June 2014 to under 30 dollars, which forced the government to adopt an austerity plan, to counter the imminent financial crisis.
The ambassador recalled the commitment of Chinese President Xi Jinping who announced at the China-Africa Summit held earlier in South Africa the financial support of up to 60 billion dollars for the next three years to support Sino-African economic cooperation projects.
"China appreciates the efforts and measures taken by the Algerian authorities to improve the investment environment. We believe that we must try to go beyond simple trade to develop a genuine industrial partnership," the Chinese diplomat said.
In terms of international trade, China was ranked Algeria's largest supplier in 2014 with 8.2 billion dollars, from a total of 58.3 billion dollars of imports bill, dethroning thus France for the second year in a row.
Some 790 Chinese companies are operating in Algeria in the fields of public works and construction, in addition to energy and trade. More than 35,000 Chinese are working in this North African nation.