The 2018 Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will take place from Monday to Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will hold a three-way summit in Iran to discuss the peace process in Syria on Friday. Campaigning for the leadership election of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will kick off on the same day. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will celebrate its 70th founding anniversary on Sunday.

Chinese and African leaders are gathering in Beijing for the FOCAC summit, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the summit on Monday.

Under the theme of "China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation," the event will be a reunion of the family of China-Africa cooperation. Among the 54 countries in Africa, 53 have established diplomatic relations with China.

The summit aims to build a closer China-Africa community of shared future, further dovetail China's Belt and Road Initiative with African development, set a new path for a higher level of China-Africa cooperation, and deepen people-to-people exchanges, according to Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

On Friday, the presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran will meet in Iran to coordinate their stances on the situation in Syria. With Damascus ready to launch a large offensive against Turkish-backed rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, the issue of Idlib is expected to be high on the agenda of the trilateral summit.

The meeting comes amid rising tensions between Ankara and Washington over the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson in Turkey. Erdogan is getting closer to Russia and Iran in an effort to seek "new friends and allies." Nevertheless, the imminent warfare in Idlib could test Turkey's cooperation with Russia, the main backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

Pyongyang is reportedly preparing to host a number of events to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK on Sunday, including a military parade, satellite imagery shows. The scale of the parade and weapons to be displayed will be closely watched, as the cancelation of a planned visit to Pyongyang by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo underlined gaps between the DPRK and the US over denuclearization.

Despite DPRK-US rifts, interactions between Pyongyang and Seoul have been gathering pace. On Wednesday, South Korean special envoys are due to arrive in Pyongyang to discuss the timing of a third summit between DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The DPRK and South Korea agreed last month to hold the next Kim-Moon summit in September.

Monday: The 2018 Beijing FOCAC summit opens, China marks the 73th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

Tuesday: The 2018 Beijing FOCAC summit concludes, foreign ministers of Bosnia, Serbia and Turkey meets in Banja Luka, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a conference on "The future of Germany as a financial center in Europe" at Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Wednesday: Monaco's head of state Prince Albert II begins a state visit to China (to Saturday) and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Pakistan.

Thursday: French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel meet with Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel in Luxembourg to discuss European affairs and what they expect from the European Union, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hold talks with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi, and the United Nations convenes Yemeni peace talks in Geneva.

Friday: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meet in Iran over the Syrian conflict, campaigning for the leadership election of Japan's ruling LDP starts, and a meeting between the Serbian and Kosovan presidents is due to take place in Brussels.

Saturday: A quiet day in politics.

Sunday: The DPRK celebrates the 70th anniversary of its founding and Sweden holds its parliamentary election.