BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhua) -- China-Africa economic ties have come under the spotlight as Chinese President Xi Jinping is now in the continent for state visits to a number of African nations and the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg that opened Wednesday.

The following are some key facts and statistics on economic and trade ties between China and Africa.

-- China-Africa trade grew from a mere 765 million U.S. dollars in 1978 to 170 billion dollars in 2017, an increase of more than 200 times. In the first five months of 2018, China-Africa trade gained 17.7 percent year on year to nearly 82 billion dollars.

-- By the end of 2016, China's investment in Africa reached over 100 billion U.S. dollars, growing over 100 times in a dozen years. According to a report released by Ernst & Young, China became the single largest contributor of foreign direct investment in Africa in 2016, having invested 66.4 billion dollars and created 130,750 jobs from 2005 to 2016.

-- Some 3,100 Chinese enterprises have invested in Africa, working on projects in areas of transport, electricity, telecommunications, industrial parks, agricultural technology centers, water supply, schools and hospitals.

-- Infrastructure construction has been one of the priorities in China-Africa cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, which involves more than 20 African countries and covers areas such as railways, highways, ports and power generation. Last year, a 480 km China-funded railway opened to connect Nairobi and Mombasa, reducing traveling time between Kenya's two biggest cities by half and creating 46,000 jobs.

-- In 2015, China announced 10 major plans for China-Africa cooperation to help the continent speed up industrialization and agricultural modernization. A 10-billion-dollar China-Africa production capacity cooperation fund has also been established to support cooperation projects such as economic zones and industrial parks in Africa.