On November 1, 2006, the 5th Senior Officials Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was opened in Beijing. Representatives from China and 48 African countries attended the meeting. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun, who is also Chinese secretary-general of the preparatory committee of the Beijing Summit, and Ethiopian Ambassador to China Hailekiros Gessesse, also special envoy of FOCAC's co-chair country Ethiopia, addressed the opening ceremony respectively.

Zhai said China and African countries jointly launched the FOCAC six years ago, which not only helps consolidate China-Africa traditional friendship, but also opens a new prospect for both sides to strengthen cooperation and seek common development in the new circumstances. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the diplomatic ties between China and Africa. Zhai believed that the Beijing Summit will surely push the China-Africa friendly relations to a new high, help promote unity and cooperation among developing nations and contribute to world peace and development.

Haile-Kiros Gessesse said the China-Africa relations are based on sincere friendship, solidarity, cooperation and common development. Since the 2nd FOCAC ministeral meeting, both sides have made smooth progress in the follow-up actions in the areas of trade, human resources development, agriculture, culture, tourism and medical health with mutually beneficial cooperation growing continuously. The convening of the Beijing Summit will surely further China-Africa friendly cooperation and promote common development.

The two-day meeting, which is an important event within the framework of the FOCAC, will review the outcome documents and make final preparations for the Beijing Summit and the 3rd Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC. Secretary-General of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Chinese Follow-up Actions Committee Xu Jinghu and Special Envoy Haile-Kiros Gessesse of the Government of Ethiopia to FOCAC Haile-Kiros Gessesse co-chaired the meeting.