Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday warmly congratulated African countries and their people on holding the 34th African Union summit.

In his congratulatory message, Xi expressed his wish that African countries and people will continue to make greater achievements on the path of unity, self-improvement, development and progress.

Xi emphasized that 2020 is an unforgettable year for China-Africa relations. China and Africa supported each other and overcame the difficulties in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 was successfully held, China-Africa cooperation in various fields continued to advance, and both sides jointly safeguarded the interests of developing countries as well as international equity and justice, showing the world the high level of China-Africa relations, he said.

Noting that a new session of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is scheduled to be held in Senegal this year, Xi said that China is ready to work with the African side to build strategic consensus and push for anti-epidemic cooperation, and fully implement the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit.

China is willing to work with Africa to advance deep and practical cooperation on the Belt and Road construction, and make unremitting efforts to build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future, so as to benefit the Chinese and African peoples, Xi said.