Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a congratulatory message to the opening of the 37th African Union (AU) Summit, which is being held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa from February 17 to 18.

Xi pointed out that the world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, and the Global South, represented by China and Africa, is booming, which has a profound impact on the course of world history.

The AU brings African countries together to seek strength through unity and promote integration as well as the building of free trade areas, Xi said.

The AU's successful accession to the G20 has further enhanced Africa's representation and lifted its voice in global governance, and China extends heartfelt congratulations on that, he added.

The Chinese president stressed that in the past year, the China-Africa relationship has kept deepening and developing, noting that the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue was successfully held and both sides have decided to support each other in their respective pursuit of modernization paths to jointly create a good environment for realizing the vision of development.

The new session of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is going to be held in 2024, Xi noted.

He said that he stands ready to work with the leaders of African countries, with a focus on the benefits of peoples from both sides, to draw up a new blueprint for China-Africa cooperation and promote the joint building of a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.

(With input from Xinhua)