On November 28, 2008, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue met in the Foreign Ministry with a visiting African youth delegation. Hu introduced the latest developments achieved in the Sino-African relations since the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). He thanked for the long-standing support from African countries on issues concerning China’s core interest, emphasizing that China has always followed the principle of equality, mutual benefit and common development while carrying out pragmatic cooperation with African countries. Hu expressed hope that the members of the delegation will, through this visit, gain a better understanding of China, make more friends and contribute to pushing forward China-Africa friendship.

The head of the delegation thanked for the warm hospitality extended by the Chinese side, saying that the purpose of the visit is to learn from China’s advanced culture and knowledge and deepen mutual understanding between the young people of the two sides. The delegation members are expected to apply what they have learnt in China to the development of their own countries after returning home and play a positive role in enhancing Africa-China friendship. The African side also hoped that China will Increase the number of government scholarships to African students so that more African young people will have opportunity to study in China.

The African youth delegation is composed of about 200 people from 39 African countries. Besides Beijing, they will also visit Henan, Zhejiang and Shanghai.