City introduction
Praia, the capital city of the Republic of Cape Verde in West Africa, was founded in 1858 as a port on the southeastern coast of Santiago Island. It has a population of 124,700 and an urban area of 10 square kilometers. In the western part of the city sit the presidential palace, the prime minister's office, government ministries and banks. Praia overlooks the Atlantic Ocean to the south and is ringed to the east, north and west by highlands, from where roads wind their way to the downtown area. The city has a seaport, an airport and submarine cables that connect it to Europe, Africa and the Americas.
As a port, Praiais is well developed with harbors as deep as 13 meters that can accommodate 10,000 class ships. Goods are exported and imported through this port in great quantities. The beaches in Praia are the main tourist destination in Cape Verde. The city has a range of small industries in cement, food and cigarettes. Goods shipped off through the port are mainly agricultural products such as banana, coffee, sugar cane and castor. The city is economically prosperous. Per capita GDP in 2008 was $3,140. Over the years, Praia and Jinan have benefited from a sister city relationship that has promoted economic and cultural exchanges. The Jinan Fourth Construction Group has a branch in Praia.
Praia and Jinan
Since our friendly cooperation with Praiais, Cape Verde Republic, began in 2005, we have maintained close contact, and in 2007 signed a memorandum to strengthen friendly exchanges and cooperation.
In July 2007, Jinan mayor Zhang Jianguo met with the Cape Verde ambassador, Leo, who said he hoped the two cities would further their friendship. In November of the same year, the mayor of Praia visited our city to sign that memorandum.
In August 2008, the deputy director of Jinan standing committee, Liu Shanpeng, paid a return visit to Praia for further discussions, and in jinan in September 2009 the cities signed the official agreement to be friendly cities.
In recent years, we have sent delegations from the municipal State-owned assets supervision and administration commission and other economic and trade delegations to Praiais to reach an agreement on engineering construction and cooperation. Jinan Fourth Construction Group set up a branch in Praiais, to become the only construction company registered in the republic of Cape Verde. It has a permanent management staff of 15, and 90 technical workers. The major construction projects with the Chinese embassy in Cape Verde include hotels, supermarkets, villa decoration, and engineering. At the end of 2008, the company had total output value of 100 million yuan, which is an example of the success of our enterprises "going out" development plan in Africa.
