Africans In China

The Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi met the Egyptian coordinators of the Forum for China Africa Cooperation Affairs (FOCAC), Ambassadors Ibrahim Ali Hassan and Mahmoud Ahmed Abdel El Gawad, on May 6th 2009.The two sides discussed the growing, profound friendship between Egypt and China as they prepared for the fourth ministerial meeting of the FOCAC. The year 2009 is significant as it is the final year of the period of implementation of the eight measures announced by the Chinese President Hi Jintao at the Beijing Summit, for promoting economic cooperation with Africa. The meeting, scheduled for later this year, will assess the success of the implementation of the steps listed at the Beijing Summit in 2006. The meeting will be co-hosted by China and Egypt.

FOCAC is a platform that has been established by a set of African countries with China for consultation and knowledge sharing, to develop a cooperation mechanism between developing nations. This forms part of the South-South cooperation endeavors. Besides political initiatives, it reiterates the need for mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation that would lead to higher developmental levels in both Africa and China.

Till now, three FOCAC inter-ministerial Summits have taken place, the first in Beijing in the year 2000, the second in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2003, and the third again in Beijing in 2006. The fourth one is being held in Egypt later this year. Attended by representatives from 48 African countries and senior Chinese officials, each of the meetings have delineated steps taken by China and Africa to strengthen Sino-African friendship. The two sides have been receiving information and details about business opportunities and the needs and requirement s of each. China has pitched in with investments and technical expertise wherever these African nations have felt the need and Africa in turn, has assisted China with raw materials, minerals and opened its mining sector for China.

However, this has not been a haphazard process but a detailed, meticulously planned cooperation initiative and in the 9 years since its inception FOCAC has kept track of the successes in each country.

Source : ChinAfrica.asia

Egyptian archaeologists have found the tombs of two court officials, in charge of music and pyramid building, in a 4,000-year-old cemetery from the reign of Pharaoh Unas.

The tombs were found buried in the sands south of Cairo and could shed light on the fifth and the sixth dynasties of the Old Kingdom, said Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s antiquities chief.

“We announce today a major important discovery at Saqqara, the discovery of two new tombs dating back to 4,300 years ago,” he told reporters at the site on Monday.
One of the tombs belonged to Iya Maat, the supervisor of pyramid-building under the reign of Unas, Hawass said.

Iya Maat organized the acquisition of granite and limestone from Aswan and other materials from the Western Desert.

The second tomb housed the remains of Thanah, who was in charge of singers in the court of Unas.

Both tombs feature hieroglyphics at their entrances but the contents of the tombs have long since been stolen, Hawass said.

The entrance of Thanah’s tomb shows carved images of her smelling lotus flowers.

“The discovery of the tombs are the beginning of a big, large cemetery,” Hawass said.

“We are continuing our excavation and we are going to uncover more tombs in the area to explain the period of Dynasty 5 and Dynasty 6,” he said, adding that 70 percent of Egypt’s ancient monuments remain buried under sand.

The death of Unas brought the Fifth Dynasty to an end, as he did not have a male heir. His daughter is widely believed to have become a queen to the first king of the Sixth Dynasty.

The Sixth Dynasty, a time of conflict in Egypt’s royal family and erosion of centralized power, is considered to be the last dynasty of the Old Kingdom (2,613-2,494 BC), after which Egypt descended into famine and social upheaval.

Archaeologists have been working at the site for six months, Hawass added.

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