China and African countries should not fail to take advantage of "unprecedented historical opportunities" for cooperation, Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Ming said on Tuesday at the opening of the China-Africa Relations Roundtable conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The conference was a lead-up to President Xi Jinping's state visit to South Africa starting on Wednesday. After the visit, Xi will chair the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit, the first one held in Africa, from Friday to Saturday.

"China has not only the capacity, but, more important, the strong political will to support Africa in realizing independent and sustainable development," Zhang said. "China-Africa cooperation is facing unprecedented historical opportunities. It is important that we do not let them slip by."

Zhang said that synergy between the two developing partners would make the international system more balanced and equitable.

"As members of the developing world, both China and African countries lack the voice and influence matched to their weight in today's international landscape," he said, adding that this underlines the need for deeper solidarity and cooperation.

At the meeting, Nomaindiyo Mfeketo, South Africa's deputy minister of international relations and cooperative development, said she believes that access to the giant Chinese market will trigger much-desired economic growth.

"We are looking forward to building our manufacturing capacity. Africa therefore hopes that the forthcoming summit will advocate for Africa's development agenda and emerge with concrete deliverables that will help the two partners engage in an objective way in future endeavors," Mfeketo said.

"Africa's development agenda is realized through FOCAC," she added, noting that this was cemented in 2009 when China became the continent's leading trade partner.

Peter Kangwanja, executive director of the African Policy Institute, an international relations think tank in Nairobi, Kenya, said, "I believe Africa's economic growth of 5 percent annually is closely linked to the involvement of China."

Garth Shelton, associate professor at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, said FOCAC will prove successful if it combines the dreams of China and Africa, with China's dream being achievement of economic growth of about 7 percent annually to increase the wealth of its middle class, while Africa's dream is to fight poverty by increasing employment opportunities, especially for its youth.