The sixth ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in 2015 in South Africa following the fifth one held in 2012 in Beijing (China).
The two sides also agreed to hold the second political dialogue between Chinese and African foreign ministers in 2010 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Created in October 2000, the Forum consists of meetings at three levels : the ministerial conference, the meeting of senior officials and negotiations between the monitoring committee of the Chinese Forum and African diplomatic mission in Beijing, according the forum’s web site.
The FOCAC, which is seeking to be a ’’platform for discussions and constructive dialogue’’ between China and 49 African countries with diplomatic ties with Beijing, held its first ministerial conference from October 10 to 12, 2000 in Beijing. More than 80 ministers from 44 African countries and China and representatives of 17 international and African regional organizations attended the meeting.
In July 2001, in Lusaka (Zambia), the Chinese and African leaders developed a procedure for the monitoring mechanism of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation which entered into force in April 2002. This tool also helped institutionalize the mechanism of the Forum.
The second ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was held on 15 and 16 December 2003 in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
The Beijing Summit, coupled with the third Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, took place in Beijing from 3 to 5 November 2006.
The resort of Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) hosted, in 2009, the fourth Ministerial conference of FOCAC which was especially marked by the adoption of the “Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration” and “Sharm el-Sheikh Action Plan (2010 – 2012)’’ that define new actions to promote Sino-African cooperation.
Source African Press Agency
