China will build a park in Kenya's coastal city, Mombasa, to commemorate their long-dead famous explorer, Zheng He, senior officials of the Chinese government told the Nation in Beijing, Wednesday.

Mr Zhao Haisheng, the assistant Director-General in China’s Ministry of Culture, said the details of the “commemoration park” were being worked on between the authorities in Nairobi and Mombasa and the Chinese embassy in Kenya.

“We’ll get a good sculptor to do a bronze statue of Zheng He and ship it to Kenya to the city of Mombasa. The city is supposed to find land for the park, where the statue will be placed… it should be ready next year,” Mr Zhao said, on the sidelines of China World Hotel, in Beijing.

The high-end hotel is the venue for this year’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation – a meeting between African leaders and bureaucrats, with their Chinese counterparts, to chart the way forward in their relations.

Next year, Mr Zhao said, will be a big year for China’s cultural diplomacy.

Zheng He is feted in China for his efforts to showcase China in Africa. The recent find at the Kenyan Coast, where Chinese artefacts including a coin was found, is said here in Beijing, to be evidence that there was trade over between the two countries over 500 years ago.

China’s Director General at the International Affairs Department of the Ministry of Culture, Ms Hou Xianghua, said China plans to access the hearts and minds of the continent by reaching out to African cultures.

Ms Hou, told a press conference that China will leverage on its rich cultural heritage to spur a “whole new stage of vigorous development” in the continent.

Ms Hou and Mr Zhao, revealed that China will identify 100 institutions through which to build cultural ties with African countries.

The Chinese also hope the African countries will respond with a similar number of institutions in China “for mutual learning about the rich cultures of these two huge civilizations (in China and in Africa).”

“We have to integrate culture with economic growth and people’s well-being,” said Ms Hou.

Ms Hou added that their facts show that there’s a direct link where economic growth can be hastened through the exploitation of cultural heritage. She said her government “stands ready to work with African countries”.

The two spoke ahead of a meeting of African ministers and the Chinese officials for their fifth meeting to discuss how China and Africa should work together going forward.

The meeting, officially called the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, will audit the progress of implementation of all the agreements reached at the last meeting held in 2009 at the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el Sheikh.

Ms Hou said African leaders had “taken part and spoken highly” of the cultural events so far held to buttress the ties with the Chinese and hoped that the two-day meeting to begin on Thursday will “bring great attention and strong push to China-Africa exchange and cooperation”.

She said that Chinese musicians visiting Africa have been “required to learn the music and culture of the people and perform in the same stage with their African counterparts”, as part of reaching the minds of the continents’ people.

Stories about Africa and essays on the experiences of the Chinese in the continent have also been published –they actually have a ‘my African story series—through which they share their experiences and views of what they think of the continent.

“We also have people from Africa who share the cultures of their home countries, so that the Chinese can know more about Africa, the magic land, and its people,” Ms Hou said.

The Chinese have stepped up their ties with the continent, pumping in money in railways and general infrastructural development, without consideration of the political atmosphere and the human rights records.

“Those who’re committed to building peace shall not be separated by mountains and distance… It will be about stronger political and economic ties in Africa. But cultural cooperation will also be a bright spot,” said Mr Zhao.