Xi to host China-Africa forum in September

Special: Forum on China Africa Cooperation 2018

Summit will focus on stronger ties, win-win cooperation with continent

President Xi Jinping will host the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to be held Sept.ember 3 and 4, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang announced on Monday.

Xi will also hold relevant activities on the sidelines of the event, Lu said.

Leaders from forum member states have been invited to attend the gathering to help boost ties between China and the continent, Lu said.

Representatives of related regional organizations from Africa and international bodies will also participate in relevant activities, he added.

The forum, established in 2000, already held two summits - in Beijing in 2006 and Johannesburg in 2015.

During the Johannesburg summit, Xi announced 10 major programs to boost China-Africa cooperation in the coming three years.

Li Dan, head of the African Studies Center of China Foreign Affairs University, said China-Africa cooperation has seen fruitful results over the past few years, especially since the Johannesburg summit. And this year's summit is expected to make further proposals to improve the quality and efficiency of bilateral cooperation projects.

The meeting is also expected to further affirm African countries' participation in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, giving an impetus to China-Africa cooperation, he said.

"This year is a bumper year for China-Africa cooperation with frequent high-level exchanges," said Li Wentao, deputy director of the Institute of African Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

In July, Xi visited several African countries during his first overseas trip after being re-elected as Chinese president in March.

It also shows the strategic significance China attaches to Africa by its hosting of the event after the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress held in October last year, Li of the institute said.

He added that the Beijing summit comes at a time when the China-Africa relationship has entered a new era faced with unique development opportunities, and the gathering is expected to provide additional areas of cooperation.

"China and the African continent should also unite as a power in promoting a more fair and just global economic and political order, amid the trend of unilateralism and economic supremacy," he said.