This was the first bilateral meeting of the Chinese leader and Tshisekedi, regarding the ninth edition of FOCAC, which will be held from September 4th to 6th.

Xi spoke later with the president of Comoros, Azali Assoumani, and with the provisional president of Mali, Assimi Goita, in the Great Hall of the People.

The event will be held under the theme “Working together to promote modernization and build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.”

FOCAC was established in 2000 as a platform to strengthen relations between both parties, and since its creation it has been the scene of important announcements by Beijing to finance projects in Africa.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said both sides will rally the strength of the Global South in solidarity and jointly uphold international justice and equity.

The spokesman noted that the two regions “are the backbone of safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, defending the purposes of the United Nations Charter, multilateralism and international equity and justice.”

FOCAC meetings were held in Beijing (2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018), Addis Ababa (2003), Sharm El-Sheik (2009) and Johannesburg (2015), each of which designed a three-year action plan.

These programs are applied bilaterally between countries and are supervised by a monitoring committee under the principles of equality and mutual benefit, diversity in form and content, emphasis on practical results, search for common progress and amicable resolution of differences.

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