Honorable Delegates,
Your Excellencies Ambassadors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends,

Today, the 4th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) opens in Beijing. I would like to begin by extending, on behalf of the Chinese Government and in the name of Co-chairman of the Chinese Follow-up Committee, sincere congratulations and warm welcome to the delegations from 46 African countries and 6 regional organizations.

Since the 2nd Ministerial Conference in Addis Ababa at the end of 2003, China and Africa have worked vigorously to implement follow-up actions with quite some effective measures, which have achieved expected results. High-level exchanges between the two sides are more frequent and our consultation and cooperation in international affairs continue to strengthen. Economic cooperation and trade have developed smoothly and notable results have been achieved in China-Africa cooperation on human resource training, peace-keeping in Africa, environmental protection, tourism, culture, education and health. Practice in the past five years has proven that FOCAC has become an effective mechanism for consultation and dialogue and a sound platform for practical cooperation between China and African countries. Playing an increasingly important role in the development of China-Africa ties, it has won much acclaim from all sectors of China and Africa and has drawn wide attention from the international community.

The 3rd Ministerial Conference of FOCAC will be held in China next year, offering new opportunities for our cooperation. Under the new circumstances, it is the common aspiration of China and Africa to work for greater mutual trust, stronger solidarity, deeper cooperation and win-win results. In recent years, quite a few African leaders have expressed their hope for a summit to be held under the Forum so that leaders from China and Africa can gather together and jointly draw the blueprint for future cooperation. The Chinese Government highly values this proposal, and after careful study, is ready to give its positive response. China proposes holding the Beijing Summit and the 3rd Ministerial Meeting of FOCAC in Beijing in autumn next year. At this SOM, the Chinese side will be happy to hear the views of our African colleagues in this regard. China stands ready to work with your countries in making careful preparations for a successful summit for China-Africa friendship. We will introduce a series of specific measures within the Forum framework to promote bilateral exchanges and practical cooperation in various fields and further enrich the new China-Africa partnership featuring long term stability, equality, mutual benefit and comprehensive cooperation.

Honorable Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the coming week, delegates to this SOM will work intensively to do mid-term stocktaking of the follow-up actions of the 2nd Ministerial Conference, make preliminary preparation for next year's Beijing Summit and hold thematic discussion on promoting investment in Africa and cooperation among enterprises. I am convinced that with our concerted efforts, this SOM will complete all its agenda smoothly and reach broad consensus.

Finally, I wish this SOM a complete success.

Thank you.