On September 2, 2024, the 17th Senior Officials Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Beijing. The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary-General of the Chinese Follow-up Committee and Director-General of the Department of African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Du Xiaohui and Senegalese Senior Coordinator for the FOCAC Affairs and Director-General of the Department of Asia-Pacific and Middle East of the Ministry of African Integration and Foreign Affairs Ousmane Diop, whose country is the co-chair of the FOCAC. The event was attended by nearly 300 people, including senior officials and representatives from 54 African members of the FOCAC, as well as heads of members of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the FOCAC.

During the meeting, the draft outcome document for the 2024 FOCAC Beijing Summit and the draft agenda for the Summit and the 9th Ministerial Conference were reviewed and adopted. The participants spoke highly of the comprehensive plan for China-Africa cooperation in various fields for the next three years outlined in the draft document, and they expect and believe that the Summit will open up a new path for China and Africa to jointly advance modernization.

The Senior Officials Meeting, held at the Yanqi Lake International Conference Resort, is a preparatory meeting for the 2024 Beijing Summit and the 9th Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC. During the meeting, foreign guests stayed at the Yanqi Hotel and the Sunrise Kempinski Hotel. They were given the opportunity to experience Beijing’s intangible cultural heritage items firsthand, such as velvet flowers, silk figurines, and the Lord Rabbit, as well as participate in tea ceremony, coffee making, and interact with guiding robots. This allowed them to fully appreciate the charm of Beijing, where traditional Chinese culture and modern technology blend seamlessly.

Prior to the Senior Officials Meeting, some foreign guests took a boat tour around Yanqi Island and visited the Mutianyu Great Wall and the Future Science City. The foreign guests expressed that they were deeply impressed by the magnificent scenery and long-standing history of Yanqi Lake, and gained a lot from the field visits to the industrial park and their exchanges with enterprises. They are eager to strengthen bilateral ties and promote China-Africa cooperation towards the future.