President Xi Jinping says China and Africa agreed to strengthen cooperation at the summit. He also says the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation sets a perfect example for building ties among developing countries. Xi Jinping made the remarks while meeting the press on Tuesday, along with his co-chair of the event: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Also at the briefing was Senegal's President Macky Sall, who will co-chair the next forum. CGTN's Jane Kiyo reports.

Two days of intense dialogue covered a wide range of issues between China and African countries.

At a joint news conference, following the 2018 FOCAC Summit in Beijing, President Xi Jinping and other African leaders hailed the meeting as fruitful.

XI JINPING PRESIDENT OF CHINA "China and Africa will join hands to build a China Africa community with a shared future that features joint responsibility, win-win cooperation, happiness for all, common cultural prosperity, common security and harmonious co-existence."

Unveiled at the forum were the Beijing Declaration on Building an Even Stronger Community With a Shared Future, and the 2019-21 Action Plan focusing on eight new areas of co-operation.

The latter will be laid out over the next three years and beyond. The cooperation areas include industrial promotion, trade, green development and much more. This will be delivered under a new 60 billion US dollar development grant.

XI JINPING PRESIDENT OF CHINA "While conducting cooperation with Africa, international partners need to respect the sovereignty of African nations. We need to hear the African voice and deliver on promises made."

More than 50 African leaders descended on Beijing for the meeting, making it the biggest gathering since FOCAC's inception. They rallied behind President Xi's vision for Africa and China's involvement on the continent.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA "We all acknowledge that in order to reach the benefits of globalization and the rapid development of technology, we need to work even more closely together. And we need to share knowledge and capabilities among us."

MACKY SALL PRESIDENT OF SENEGAL "China Africa relations have entered a golden age. China and Africa trust each other. Our relations continue to move forward and this is because our relation is based on a sincere friendship in the struggle for the decolonization of our countries and is based on principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit."

With the next summit scheduled for 2021 – there's mutual optimism about the future of China-Africa relations. Jane Kiyo, CGTN, BEIJING.