CAIRO, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Visiting China's top legislator Wu Bangguo said here on Monday that to strengthen business ties among companies should be the priority of China-Africa economic cooperation.

Wu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, made his remarks in a keynote speech delivered at China-Africa Business Cooperation Conference, which was attended by about 400 entrepreneurs from both China and African nations.

"Companies are market participants and investors. They are also the main force of economic cooperation. Only with the active participation of the companies will China-Africa economic cooperation flourish," said Wu, who was here also for a four-day official friendly visit to Egypt.

Wu said he hoped that Chinese and African companies will follow the principle of equality, mutual benefits, and win-win model in strengthening cooperation, whereby they could work together to write a new chapter of China-Africa cooperation.

Wu made a three-point proposal in the hope of strengthening China-Africa economic cooperation.

First, China and African nations should focus on key areas of cooperation. "Africa needs to develop agriculture, improve infrastructure, develop energy and mineral resources, upgrade industry and train more professionals to speed up its development and improve the well-being of its people," said Wu.

Second, both sides should develop new models of cooperation. "Instead of focusing on trade alone, China-Africa business cooperation should be expanded to cover more areas, including investment, services, technology and project contracting," he said.

Third, both sides should foster an enabling business environment. "We should make full use of current mechanisms, adopt and implement new policies that facilitate trade, build business ties and solve problems in business cooperation in a timely fashion," said Wu.