SHANGHAI, May 13 -- China is trying its best to prepare for the annual board meeting of the African Development Bank (ADB) in Shanghai next week, president of China's central bank said on Sunday.

"The meeting is so important that we are trying our best to make it a success," People's Bank of China President Zhou Xiaochuan told visiting ADB President Donald Kaberuka.

Zhou said he hoped more fresh opportunities for China-Africa cooperation will come out of the meeting.

Zhou and Kaberuka also exchanged views on issues of common concern in their closed-door meeting.

The 2007 Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank Group are scheduled to be held in Shanghai from May 16 to 17.

It will be the first time the annual board meetings of the ADB are held in Asia, and the second time outside Africa. In 2001, the bank's annual board meetings were held in Spain.

It is another significant Africa-related event hosted by China, following the Beijing Summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum held in November 2006.

Themed "Africa and Asia: Partners in Development", the meetings will focus on infrastructure development in Africa, regional integrity and poverty relief.

About 2,000 people are expected to attend the meetings, including finance ministers and governors of the central banks of member states, representatives of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other regional development finance organizations and non-governmental organizations.

A series of business seminars will be held on the sidelines of the ADB board meetings, which are aimed at further tapping the potential for cooperation between China and Africa.

Founded in 1964, the ADB has 77 members from Africa, America, Europe and Asia. China became a member in 1985.