Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming Africa visit will help reach a consensus with African nations ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit which will be held in Beijing this September, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou told reporters at a briefing on Friday.
Kong hailed the traditional relationship between China and Africa, saying their tie is the basis of China’s diplomacy.
Xi will pay state visits to Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa and the United Arab Emirates from July 19 to 24 and attend the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg from July 25 to 27.
Kong said UAE is the first Arab country in the gulf region to establish strategic partnership with China and during Xi’s visit to the UAE this month, programmatic cooperation will be discussed.
It will be Xi’s fourth trip to the Africa continent as Chinese president and his first foreign visit since his re-election in March.
Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Jun said at Friday’s briefing that Xi will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS summit.
Zhang said China, together with other BRICS countries will champion multilateralism and safeguard free trade, adding they’ll together deepen cooperation in all areas within the BRICS countries.
Xi will also pay a visit to Mauritius from July 27 to 28 following the BRICS summit in South Africa.
