Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that China never pursues selfish geopolitical gains in Africa and would never impose its will on others. 

Wang made the remarks at the opening of the Coordinators' Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on the China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, which was attended by foreign ministers and other high-level officials from some 50 African countries.

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China always values Africa, respects Africa and supports Africa, and China’s approach to cooperation with Africa had been different to that of traditional powers, Wang stressed.

China and Africa have a similar history, struggles and development tasks, Wang said, adding that China-Africa cooperation was a mutual understanding between brothers, a mutual support between friends, and a pioneer and model of South-South cooperation in the world.

Wang pointed out that the blueprint for China-Africa cooperation in the new era has been worked out and the key lies in implementation.

China is willing to work with Africa to build a community with a shared future for mankind, strengthen the alignment of China's Belt and Road Initiative with Africa's development plans, and firmly uphold multilateralism and oppose protectionism and bullying, Wang stressed. 

"We always believe that China-Africa cooperation is part of the international cooperation with Africa. It will not only contribute to the common development and shared interest between China and Africa, but also create conditions for greater international cooperation," Wang noted.

"China will encourage the international community to treat Africa equally and increase investment in Africa. We will work with others, and help with the development and rejuvenation of African countries and make life more colorful and rewarding for the African people," he concluded.

The Chinese and African sides signed cooperation agreements during the meeting and issued a joint statement.

Answering questions from CGTN during a press conference, Qian Keming, China's Vice Minister of Commerce, shared details of the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo to be held in Changsha City, central Hunan province.

"The theme is win-win cooperation for a closer China-Africa partnership. There will be an opening ceremony, the China and Africa Economic trade cooperation forum, and four other seminars, on agriculture, infrastructure and financing cooperation, bilateral trade promotion and the development of economic and trade cooperation," Qian said. 

Both Chinese and African officials believe that it’s time for them to boost synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative with the AU 2063 Agenda, to safeguard multilateralism and boost a closer community with a shared future between China and Africa.

“I'm always happy to join with Chinese friends on bilateral relations. The recent forum is an important one to discuss political, economic and infrastructure and trade between China and Africa,” Oumar Demba ba, Minister and Diplomatic Adviser to the President of Senegal told CGTN.