South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will pay a state visit to China prior to the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), to be held on September 3-4, South African Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said Monday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2018) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will pay a state visit to China prior to the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), to be held on September 3-4, South African Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said Monday.
Ramaphosa's state visit to Beijing follows Chinese leader Xi Jinping's own state visit to South Africa, which took place prior to the start of the 10th annual BRICS Summit on July 25-27.
"President Cyril Ramaphosa will travel to the FOCAC Summit which will be held in Beijing, China. President Ramaphosa and President Xi will co-chair the Summit on September 3-4. The FOCAC Summit will be preceded by President Ramaphosa's State Visit to China," Sisulu said at the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation monthly media briefing.
The theme of this year's FOCAC Summit is: "China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation." It will be chaired by President Xi. According to the official website of the FOCAC Summit, the event will seek to connect the Belt and Road Initiative with Agenda 2063 of the African Union and the UN 2030 Agenda on sustainable development, along with plans to forge new bilateral agreements between China and African countries.
Leaders of the FOCAC member states have been invited to attend the summit along with representatives from relevant regional African and international organizations. FOCAC comprises China and 53 African countries, along with the Commission of the African Union.
