Chinese President, Xi Jinping has urged African leaders to prioritise their relationship with China and steer its future development.

He said, this is of crucial importance to deepening China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership, promoting solidarity and cooperation among developing countries as well as global cooperation against Covid-19.

It will also make the international order and global governance system more just and equitable.

The Chinese President made the request on November 29, while delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

His speech was entitled, “uphold the Tradition of Always Standing Together and Jointly Build a China-Africa Community with a Shared Future in the New Era”.

President Xi Jinping made four proposals on building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.

The first proposal is to fight Covid-19 with solidarity, put people first, and bridge the immunization gap whiles the second is to deepen practical cooperation, share development opportunities and jointly pursue economic recovery.

The third proposal is to see to the promotion of green development, combat climate change and preserve green mountains and clear waters for shared benefits. The last but not least proposal is to uphold equity and justice, offer strong mutual support and safeguard common interests.

For his part, Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, said China and African countries have similar historical experiences, and share strong political consensus and sense of responsibility in upholding equity and justice and practicing multilateralism.

Speaking to the media, he said China will never forget the profound friendship of African countries, and remain guided by the principle of sincerity, real results, amity, good faith and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests.

"China will work together with African friends to promote and carry forward the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation from generation to generation. We will act on the call of President Xi Jinping and work with African friends to live up to this spirit, firmly oppose and reject moves that harm China-Africa friendship, and make cherishing China-Africa friendship a widely-held consensus and habit, with a view to creating more splendid chapters in China-Africa relations," he added.

The Conference is another reunion of the big family of China-Africa friendship after the 2018 FOCAC Beijing Summit.

It is the largest physical diplomatic event China co-hosted abroad since the start of Covid-19, and also another major diplomatic initiative of China with other developing countries.