On January 13, 2018 local time, after meeting with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda in Kigali, Foreign Minister Wang Yi briefed the press at inquiry on China's vision on holding the new summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in China this year.
Wang Yi said the FOCAC is an important channel for collective dialogue and deepening mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the African countries and also serves as the largest and most effective South-South cooperation platform in the world. The Johannesburg Summit held three years ago achieved a great success, and it is now China's turn to hold a new FOCAC. China decides to upgrade the forum to a summit in response to the positive and urgent wishes of the African countries. President Xi Jinping and President of South Africa, the FOCAC co-chair, will jointly invite all the leaders of the forum members to attend the summit. I just conveyed an invitation to President Paul Kagame personally and he was very pleased to accept it. He said that he will attend the summit held in China as president of Rwanda and the rotating presidency of the African Union (AU) at the scheduled time. We are willing to strengthen communication and consultation with our African friends to elevate the FOCAC Beijing Summit to a new level on the basis of the Johannesburg Summit.
Wang Yi said that many African countries appreciate and support the Belt and Road Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping. We hope to, through the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" between China and Africa, inject fresh and strong impetus into China-Africa mutually beneficial cooperation, elevate it to a new level, and push forward China-Africa comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to a new stage. The Eurasia is the cradle of the "Belt and Road", while Africa is the natural and historical extension of it. Therefore, Africa cannot be absent from the building of the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as from the common development of China and the rest of the world.
We can link the "Belt and Road" with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the AU 2063 Agenda, and development strategies of the African countries such as Rwanda's "Vision 2020". On this basis, we should combine the development of Africa with that of China, the rejuvenation of the Eurasia, and the epochal trend of regional integration and economic globalization. We believe that the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative can provide more resources and means for accelerating the industrialization and modernization in Africa, broaden more markets and space and provide more diversified development prospects. I believe that as long as we adhere to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits and make joint efforts to promote the "Belt and Road" construction, we will surely be able to open up broader prospects for China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership.
