JOHANNESBURG

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday said Beijing will lend support to Libya in "ensuring stability and achieving development" of the North African nation.

Xi made comments during his meeting with Libyan Presidential Council Chairman Mohammad Al-Manfi in Beijing.

Al-Manfi is in China to attend the three-day summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that began on Wednesday.

"China looks forward to more friendly cooperation with Libya and stands ready to work with Libya for the steady and sustained growth of bilateral ties," Xi told the visiting Libyan dignitary.

"China supports Libya in ensuring stability and achieving development," he added.

The two countries established diplomatic relations 46 years ago and treat each other with support and sincerity, according China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

At least leaders and representatives of 53 African nations have converged in Beijing for the ninth FOCAC, which was established in 2000.

The Chinese leader also held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and said the China-Ethiopia ties are a “shining” example of China-Africa friendship and cooperation. He said China stands ready to keep deepening solidarity and cooperation with the horn of Africa country.

More meetings

Xi also met Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema whose country will this year celebrate its 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations with China. Xi hailed ties between the two countries.

He also met Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, whose country will celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties with China this year. Tanzania is where Xi outlined for the first time China’s Africa policy in the new era.

During his state visit to Tanzania in 2013, Xi laid out the principles of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith – the major components of China’s policy towards Africa.

Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Sierra Leone’s Julius Maada Bio and Cameroon’s Paul Biya also met with Xi.

Hundreds of officials, bureaucrats, business people, policymakers and thought leaders from China and African nations have converged in Beijing for the three-day 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Addressing the welcome banquet for African leaders, Xi said that his meetings with African leaders “have always been cordial and heart-warming,” according to a statement on X by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.

"They have reinforced my belief that the China-Africa community with a shared future is built on a strong foundation and blessed with a good start and broad prospects," the statement quoted the Chinese president as saying.

He added that China and African countries have been “fighting shoulder to shoulder imperialism, colonialism, and hegemonism, and advancing hand in hand along the path of development, revitalization, and modernization.

"China and Africa have been, and remain, pioneers in building the community with a shared future, and will stay at the forefront in pursuing modernization," Xi said.

The Chinese president on Thursday will deliver a keynote address, themed Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future.

Participants will attend four high-level meetings discussing state governance, industrialization and agricultural modernization, peace and security, and cooperation under China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, in addition to side events.

The summit is expected to adopt two documents on Friday – the declaration and the action plan.

The documents aim to build “major consensus between the two sides and chart a path for implementing high-quality China-Africa cooperation in the next three years,” according to Chinese officials.

* Islamuddin Sajid contributed to this story.