Workers go about their work at the Hawassa Industrial Park in Hawassa twon, 275 kilometres south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 13, 2016. The industrial park was constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) within nine months. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

UNITED NATIONS, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Africa is an important partner in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, said Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations at a high-level symposium on the Chinese initiative at UN Headquarters.

The initiative is to meet the needs of Africa and pursue mutual benefits without imposing political conditions. The initiative will give help to Africa based on respect, and advance friendship and benefits with priority given to friendship, said Ma.

The Belt and Road Initiative involves more than 20 African countries, including Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa. Cooperation agreements have been reached on 39 major projects, covering 17 areas such as railway, highway, port and power generation.

With strong support from the Chinese government and companies, Ethiopia's first national industrial park, Hawassa Industrial Park, entered into operation in 2017 and created 60,000 jobs and an annual revenue of 1 billion U.S. dollars for Ethiopia.

New infrastructure has been built in Africa, including industrial zones, railways, motorways, airports and power plants, giving a strong boost to the development of the African continent.