China has supported the United Nations efforts to end 14 years of civil war in Liberia, which claimed tens and thousands of lives and made 1 million people homeless, by sending peacekeepers to the war-ravaged country.

In the postwar period, China has also rendered assistance for Liberia's recovery programs.

"The relations between our two countries are growing steadily," Johnson-Sirleaf said last month. She added," We look forward to new and rewarding areas of cooperation within the framework of South-South cooperation."

She identified infrastructure building and the agriculture sector as areas in which Liberia and China can forge a new and rewarding partnership.

For its part, Chinese Ambassador to Liberia Lin Songtian has on many occasions assured his government's preparedness to facilitate the cultivation of commercial rice farms in Liberia, provided the government formulates an agricultural policy.

If deals were sealed for the project, it would certainly help produce the much-needed employment opportunities the Liberian president is seeking.

Liberia's human development report had stated that "agriculture accounts for 54 percent of Liberia's gross domestic product (GDP) ... and although rice remains the main staple food in Liberia, accounting for 90 percent of daily dietary intake, virtually 95 percent of the country's rice consumption needs is met via imports."

The report, therefore, suggested that "agriculture transformation was urgently needed to improve food security, create jobs and stimulate economic growth."

In addition, China deployed agriculture experts at a vocational school and sent a team of medical doctors at the country's largest referral hospital - JFK Medical Center.

Other assistance includes the donation of agricultural tools worth 1 million US dollars for thousands of farmers throughout Liberia, the supply of office equipment including computers to almost all government agencies and the donation of earth-moving equipment for road repairs.

It also supported Liberia's human resource development by enabling more than 300 students and personnel with diverse professional background to study in workshops and seminars in China.

A memorandum of understanding was signed recently by China and Liberia to upgrade Liberia's state-owned broadcasting system to boost the transmission beyond the capital of Monrovia.