Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir attends the 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/Zhang Ning) Photo Gallery>>>

    SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said here Sunday that China has fulfilled its commitments made in Beijing Summit 2006 to assist Africa.

    China has fulfilled its commitment in the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2006 to assist Africa in the fields of energy, roads and infrastructure, as well as in the critical area of fighting against serious diseases, said Bashir in a speech at the opening ceremony of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of FOCAC.

    He 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.

    He said great achievements have been accomplished by the two sides from a strategic partnership within the framework of FOCAC between China and Africa, which requires yet more hard work and commitments to the strategic plans, especially in the areas of agriculture, food security and infrastructure.

    He also expressed his appreciation for the proposals announced by Premier Wen Jiabao aimed at strengthening the partnership between China and African continent.

    The Four Ministerial Meeting of FOCAC opened in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh Sunday morning.

    Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and African heads of state or government from 49 countries attended the opening ceremony.

    The conference, with the theme of "deepening the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership for sustainable development," will last for two days.

    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.

Special report: Wen visits Egypt, attends China-Africa forum