Maputo — A group Chinese business people expressed on Thursday their interest in investing in Mozambique, and in strengthening economic relations between the two countries.

Representatives of the China Chiba Group are paying a six day visit to Mozambique in response to the invitation issued by Prime Minister Aires Aly to China's business community during his visit to that country in June.

Addressing reporters at the end of a meeting with Aly, the chairperson of the group, Huo Qinghua, said that his country has been developing a strong friendship cooperation with Mozambique, and now it is necessary to broaden these ties to cover the economy.

"Now we are having contacts at government level to identify the areas where we can invest", said Qinghua, adding that his organization is interested in mineral resources, energy, transport and communications, and tourism.

The Mozambican Minister of Mineral Resources, Esperanca Bias, who also took part in the meeting, told reporters that there are Chinese companies involved in prospecting for coal in Tete province, and for precious stones and tantalite in Zambezia.

The Mozambican government's main concern is to identify mineral reserves in the country and learn of their quantities.

"We know that we have coal and gold, for instance, but usually we do not know how large the reserves are", said Bias. "We are now working on that, in Tete and Niassa provinces initially, and after we learn what we have, we will pass the data on to the interested investors".