The fourth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) opens in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Nov. 8, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)

   The Fourth Ministerial Conference of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC) opened in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday.

    Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and African heads of state or government from 49 countries attended the opening ceremony of the two-day meeting, with the theme of "deepening the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership for sustainable development."

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attends the opening ceremony of the fourth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

    Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced in his speech eight new measures the Chinese government will take to strengthen China-Africa cooperation in the next three years.

    The eight new measures, succeeding the eight measures put forward by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the landmark Beijing Summit of the FOCAC in 2006, are aimed at pushing forward China-Africa cooperation in the next three years.

    He also said "The Chinese people cherish sincere friendship towards the African people, and China's support to Africa's development is concrete and real."

    "Whatever change may take place in the world ... our policy of supporting Africa's economic and social development will not change," Wen added.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak attends the fourth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 8, 2009. The meeting kicked off here Sunday morning. (Xinhua/Zhang Ning)

    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said during his speech that FOCAC is to establish a new stage of relations between China and Africa and a partnership that the two sides are looking forward to peace, security and development.

    Egypt was the first African country to recognize the People's Republic of China more than half a century ago, and Egypt supports the one-China principal and also supports FOCAC from the first day of its establishment, he said.

    We meet here in Sharm el-Sheikh to stress once again our commitment to the principles we accepted to establish our partnership, he added.

    This reflects the solid relations between the people of Africa and China throughout history and an effective model of fruitful South-South cooperation, said the Egyptian president.

    Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said he appreciated sincere efforts of the Chinese government to promote its relations with the African countries over the past years and help their economic development.

    Leaders from Uganda, Congo, Rwanda, Zimbabwe also delivered speeches at the opening ceremony.

    The main agenda of the meeting is to review the implementation of the follow-up activities of the FOCAC Beijing Summit and the 3rd Ministerial Conference, and explore new initiatives and measures on the way toward Sino-African cooperation in such areas of priority as human resources, agriculture, infrastructure development, investment and trade.

    The FOCAC, a collective consultation and dialogue mechanism between China and African countries, is the first of its kind in the history of Sino-African relationship.

    It is a major and future-oriented move taken by both sides in the context of South-South cooperation to seek common development under the new situation.

    Since the FOCAC launch in 2000, three ministerial conferences have been held in Beijing, Addis Ababa and Beijing.