TIANJIN, Oct. 26 -- The 25th China Mining Conference and Exhibition opened in north China's Tianjin Municipality on Thursday, attracting more than 260 exhibitors and approximately 5,000 visitors from nearly 30 countries and regions.

The three-day event, themed "Innovation promotes the high-quality development of mining," aims to promote mutual understanding and cooperation in the global mining industry.

Several sub-forums will take place during the event, with topics including mining equipment, green mine development and intelligent mining.

"We will share experience and opportunities with an open attitude, and promote interaction between industrial development and resource supply," said Wang Guanghua, China's minister of natural resources, adding that China is the world's largest producer, consumer and trader of mineral products.

Mining remains the bulwark of the African economy, contributing substantially to revenue and gross domestic product (GDP). Promoting the high-quality development of mining is of the utmost importance to spur Africa's economic development, according to Samuel A. Jinapor, the minister for lands and natural resources of Ghana.

"It is our hope that through this conference, the Sino-African relationship will be strengthened and that we will see an increased Chinese investment in the mining industry of Africa and, of course, my country, Ghana," the official said.