The 2018 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held on Monday and Tuesday in Beijing. What's on the agenda? Who is coming? And what can we look out for? 

Leaders of African countries are arriving in Beijing for the FOCAC Summit to renew friendships and expand cooperation. 

The chairperson of the African Union Commission will lead delegations attending the summit. The Secretary-General of the UN will also attend events as a special guest, and 27 international and African organizations will be present as observers. 

A busy agenda awaits President Xi Jinping and his African counterparts. On Monday, President Xi will attend the opening ceremony and deliver a keynote speech. On Tuesday, he and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will co-chair various meetings. 

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said: "The forum will host 14 sub-forums and side events, with key areas covering people-to-people exchanges, poverty reduction, and cultural areas. They will fully reflect the all-round and diverse cooperation between China and Africa, and galvanize enthusiasm and confidence for people from all sectors. The measures to be discussed are very people-centric. They will encourage Chinese and African people to participate more in the cooperation, deepen mutual understanding and friendship and strengthen future relations between China and Africa." 

China says it wants to work with Africa to combine the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the African Union's Agenda 2063, and the development strategies of individual African countries. 

Three years after Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined his "ten major plans" for cooperation between China and Africa, Africa remains an important destination for new Chinese investment. China has spent the last nine years as Africa's largest trading partner. 

Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Qian Keming said: "In 2017, the trade volume between China and Africa was 170 billion US dollars, up 14 percent year-on-year. In the first six months of this year, trade volume between China and Africa was 98.8 billion US dollars, up 16 percent year-on-year. Over the past three years, China's average direct investment in Africa has remained at about three billion US dollars." 

Jiang Zengwei, the chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade said: "Globalization is the trend of the world. No country can achieve development by closing its doors. We should be inclusive and open, interact with each other within the international order and rules and promote win-win cooperation." 

China-Africa cooperation under the framework of the Forum has also been welcomed by African leaders. Mokgweeti Masisi, the president of Botswana, said: "When you look at President Xi Jinping's policy of interacting with Africa in an unintrusive manner without conditionality, it's very attractive to adopt that model to adopt such partners for our own development." 

It has been 18 years since the establishment of  FOCAC. The Beijing Summit is another reunion of the big family of China and Africa. It's the largest diplomatic activity, attended by the largest number of foreign leaders this year in China. The meeting is expected to see the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and an action plan for the years 2019 to 2021. Beijing is ready and opening its arms to welcome African brothers and sisters to cooperate in building an even stronger community with a shared future.