China-Burundi ties are at the "best time in history" and China is willing to support Burundi to independently explore development paths suited to its national conditions, said Chinese President Xi Jinping.

 Xi made the remarks during a meeting with Burundi's second vice-president Joseph Butore at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday, on sidelines of  the 2018 Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

China welcomes Burundi to actively participate in the building of the Belt and Road and strengthen cooperation in the areas such as infrastructure, energy and agriculture, helping Burundi increase its food production capacity, President Xi said.

He also added that China will continue dispatching medical teams to Burundi.

Butore conveyed Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza's warmest regards to President Xi and he shared his high appreciation of Xi's keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing summit of the FOCAC.

Burundi and China supported, is supporting and will support each other on issues involving their respective core interests and major concerns, he added.

Burundi's development plan has many common points with President Xi's eight major initiatives with African countries, and Burundi will actively participate in the building of the Belt and Road, Butore noted.