On December 3 local time, President Xi Jinping and his wife Mme. Peng Liyuan attended the welcoming banquet of the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg of South Africa.

At 7: 20 p.m. local time, Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan arrived at the Sandton International Convention Center. The couple shook hands kindly and had friendly talks with leaders and their spouses from African countries present at the summit. President Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan walked together with President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma of South Africa and his wife as well as leaders and their spouses from other African countries into the banquet hall. When the banquet began, President Xi Jinping and President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma addressed the audience respectively.

Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma expressed that it is the first FOCAC Summit held in Africa. Africa and China enjoy unique strategic partnership. This FOCAC Summit is sure to lift Africa-China relations up to a new height. As a Chinese old saying goes, "People with one mind will remove Mount Tai", leaders of relevant countries attending the summit should make concerted efforts to, in the spirit of carrying on the past and forging ahead into the future, ensure a full success of this summit so as to lay a solid foundation for more in-depth cooperation in the future.

In his address, Xi Jinping pointed out that Africa is a continent that Chinese people are familiar with and fond of. Its time-honored and glorious history, promising prospects for development and hospitable people impress Chinese people deeply. Despite the long distance between China and Africa, the similar historical experience and aspiration for common development have developed a natural intimacy between the two peoples. China-Africa friendship is a historical necessity, a fruit of careful cultivation by generations of leaders of both sides, a fruit of joint efforts and continuous inheritance of the two peoples, as well as a great treasure shared by the two sides. To well safeguard and develop the ever-lasting traditional friendship between China and Africa is our shared responsibility and a common expectation of the two peoples.

Xi Jinping stressed that currently the two peoples of China and Africa are working hard to realize their respective dreams. The development strategies of both sides highly accord with each other and their development cooperation needs each other and boasts different advantages. The Chinese side stands ready to cooperate closely with the African side to give full play to their two unique advantages of political mutual trust and economic complementarity, jointly transform the advantage of bilateral friendship into impetus for bilateral development cooperation and make joint efforts to translate the potential of abundant natural and human resources in Africa into economic development strength and achievements beneficial to the two peoples.

The banquet proceeded in a cheerful and friendly atmosphere from the beginning to the end..

Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, Yang Jiechi and others attended the above-mentioned events.

On the morning of December 3 local time, Xi Jinping left Pretoria by car for Johannesburg where he will co-chair the Johannesburg Summit of the FOCAC with President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma of South Africa.