BEIJING -- Chinese and African senior leaders gathered in Beijing on Sunday
to discuss the arrangements and preparations for the Beijing Summit of the Forum
on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to be held from November 3 to 5.
Representatives from China and 48 African countries attended the two-day
meeting.
Zhai Jun, Chinese secretary-general of the preparatory committee of the
Beijing Summit, said senior officials will discuss preparations, which are of
great importance to the success of the summit.
In his opening speech, Zhai, who is also assistant Foreign Minister, hailed
the friendship and cooperation between China and Africa over the past 50 years.
He said the Beijing Summit is a historical event in terms of China-Africa
ties and will exert far-reaching influence on the cooperation between the two
sides.
Hailekiros Gessesse, special envoy of the FOCAC's co-chair country Ethiopia
and also the Ethiopian Ambassador to China, said multilateral cooperation has
strengthened since the FOCAC was founded in 2000 and is developing soundly.
Remarkable progress has been made in the fields of science and technology,
education, culture, public health and personnel training, said Hailekiros.
According to the Foreign Ministry, China has had extensive discussions with
African countries on preparations for the summit and many agreements had been
reached.
The summit, also the 3rd Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC, focuses on the
subjects of "friendship, peace, cooperation and development".
FOCAC is a mechanism for collective dialogue and cooperation jointly
established by China and Africa to cope with new challenges and facilitate
common development.
Since the launch of the FOCAC in 2000, two ministerial conferences have been
held in Beijing and Addis Ababa.
