Some breakthroughs are expected to be achieved at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which starts on Friday in Johannesburg, where Sino-African cooperation in agriculture is expected to be high on the agenda.

China attaches great importance to agricultural cooperation to boost its relations with Africa. The new Chinese leadership has placed cooperation with Africa at a higher strategic level and intensified its exchanges with the continent.

President Xi Jinping visited three African countries in March 2013, and propounded some new principles for China's Africa policy, whose core purpose is to combine helping Africa realize economic independence, self-reliance and sustainable development with China's development.