A China-Africa industrial capacity cooperation fund, designed to aid Africa's development, is now active, China's central bank said on January 5.

The fund, with an initial capital of 10 billion U.S. dollars, will mainly invest in sectors like manufacturing, hi-tech, agriculture, energy, infrastructure construction and finance in African countries, the People's Bank of China said in a statement on its website.

The statement said investors both at home and abroad are welcomed to join the fund. However, it did not provide details such as how the fund will be managed and whether there are potential investment programs.

The fund, jointly backed by China's foreign exchange reserves and the Export-Import Bank of China, is part of a 60-billion-dollar aid package to Africa in the next three years.

Unveiled by President Xi Jinping in South Africa last month, it also includes 5 billion dollars of free aid and interest-free loans, 35 billion dollars of preferential loans and export credit on more favorable terms and 5 billion dollars of additional capital for the China-Africa Development Fund and the Special Loan for the Development of African small and medium-sized enterprises.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2016)