Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to meet African heads of state on the sidelines of the BRICS summit next week to reinforce China-Africa cooperation in the new era.
In this regard, China’s ambassador to South Africa Chen Xiaodong highlighted that the meeting will take place late on Thursday, the last day of the three-day summit.
The day has been set aside for events involving the more than 70 countries invited as “friends” of the BRICS bloc, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Chen said Xi and African leaders will draw up a blueprint for cooperation to create jobs and improve livelihoods in Africa.
“The initiatives will be in line with the needs of Africa’s economic restructuring and upgrading,” he said.
China’s interactions with African leaders will follow last month’s Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, where Russian President Vladimir Putin held court with the 17 African heads of state who attended out of the 54 African countries invited.
Furthermore, Senegalese president Macky Sall, the current chair of the Forum for China Africa Cooperation, African Union (AU) chair and Comoros President Azali Assoumani, and representatives from Africa’s eight regional economic communities will attend.
