China and Africa have vowed to uphold the spirit of solidarity and cooperation, jointly cope with various risks and challenges, and let their cooperation shine as an example of multilateralism and mutual benefits.

The pledge was made on Monday by President Xi Jinping and Senegalese President Macky Sall in a joint congratulatory message to mark the 20th anniversary of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. China and Senegal are the forum's Chinese and African co-chairs.

Xi and Sall said they are willing to work with other FOCAC members to stick to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contributions and shared benefits, constantly enrich and improve the forum's mechanism and give full play to FOCAC's leading role in China-Africa relations.

Under the joint efforts made by China and Africa over the past two decades, FOCAC has grown into an important and dynamic platform for China and Africa to carry out collective dialogues and an effective mechanism for practical cooperation. It represents an important symbol of South-South cooperation, the two leaders said.

The two leaders recalled that at the 2018 FOCAC summit held in Beijing, China and Africa agreed to build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future, charting the course of the future development of bilateral relations.

Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic poses a severe challenge to all of mankind and has harshly affected the world economy, Xi and Sall said that China and Africa are ready to further boost bilateral cooperation and make positive contributions to safeguarding global fairness and justice.

The two leaders also called for concerted efforts to better synergize China's two centenary goals and the African Union's Agenda 2063, and advance the implementation of results achieved at the FOCAC Beijing summit and the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19.

That, the two leaders added, will enable the two sides to lift the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership to higher levels and build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future, so as to create more benefits for the Chinese and African peoples and a better future for mankind.

They also expressed confidence that the FOCAC meeting to be held in Senegal in 2021 will further help the two sides achieve their common goals.

CHINA DAILY - XINHUA