Just prior to the official opening of the Ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Beijing, 17 senior officials of FOCAC met in Beijing, the China’s Foreign Ministry reported, to review and adopt the final draft outcome document for this year’s summit as well at the draft agenda. Attending were members of the Chinese Follow-up Committee, Foreign Ministry officials and Ousmane Diop, Senegal’s Senior Coordinator for FOCAC Affairs, also from that country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry. Senegal is co-chair of FOCAC. Representatives of all of FOCAC’s 54 members were among 300 other individuals attending.
According to this report, the draft outcome document has a comprehensive plan for China-Africa cooperation in various fields for the next three years. The report states that participants “expect and believe that the Summit will open up a new path for China and Africa to advance together on the path to modernization,” which will focus on Chinese initiatives on three fronts: industrialization, agricultural modernization and talent development.
