LUSAKA - A Zambian economics expert has hailed China's exemplary role in supporting Africa through heavy infrastructure investment and trade promotion.

Mbita Chitala, lecturer of finance and international trade at Zambia Open University, told Xinhua that China has developed a good model of supporting African countries through infrastructure development, adding that this has gone a long way in helping the continent deal with some of the development constraints.

"And if this model of China support can be emulated by the other 19 members of the G20, we would go a long way in resolving world global problems, particularly those involving trade," Chitala said.

"We would be very happy that ... we increase move trade with the G20 members to enable us to accumulate investable surpluses which will expand our productive systems and resolve the issues of poverty and underdevelopment and China is playing this on a major scale," he added.

Chitala, who also served as a deputy minister of finance in governments of late presidents Fredrick Chiluba and Levy Mwanawasa, added that China's influence in the global economy could not be underestimated

He said China was a role model to African countries on how it had moved from a poor country to the world's second largest economy.

G20 members, he said, have a critical role to play in the global economy because of the magnitude of their influence, adding that China has stood out by embarking on a path to invest heavily in Africa's infrastructure.

Africa, he added, requires assistance to move its economic agenda forward by ensuring smooth trade with G20 members without any non-tariff barriers in order to tackle the problem of poverty and underdevelopment.