JOHANNESBURG -- China highly regards the Sino-Africa friendship and is determined to promote it to a higher level, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a China-Africa relations round table discussion in Johannesburg, Zhang said Sino-Africa relationship is at the peak as the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) takes place on December 4-5.

"China-Arica relation is better than it has ever been. Through FOCAC mechanism, China and Africa have increased political trust and carried out fruitful practical cooperation, expanded cultural exchanges and enhanced cooperation on peace and security,"Zhang said.

To show how important Africa is to China, Chinese President Xi Jinping's first overseas trip after taking office was to the continent, Zhang said.

He said President Xi has advanced sincerity and good faith in interaction with Africa.

"He (the president) put forward the principles of sincerity, practical results, affinity and good faith in growing relations with Africa and emphasized the need to value friendship and justice as well as shared interests, thus pointing the way forward for China-Africa relations in the new era,"said Zhang.

The roundtable discussion came a few days before the much awaited FOCAC Summit.

The Chinese president will co-chair the FOCAC Summit with his South African counterpart Jacon Zuma.

"China and Africa are both making enormous strides in their development. Against such a backdrop, China-Africa cooperation also needs to be updated for greater quality and efficiency and strive for new and bigger progress against all odds. This is what our cooperation calls for and what both sides aspire to," said Zhang.

He said the FOCAC Summit will provide an opportunity to build on past achievements and open a new chapter in the Sino-Africa relations.

The friendship, Zhang said, should be nurtured and passed on from generation to generation.

Cooperation between China and Africa "will not only deepen cooperation between the two sides, but also contribute to South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue, and make the international system more balanced and equitable", said Zhang.

"It is therefore incumbent upon us to take China-Africa relations to a new level,"he added.

"We need to properly handle differences that emerge in our cooperation in the spirit of sincerity, friendship and equal-footed consultation, so that our overall relations and cooperation will not be affected," he said.

Nomaindiya Mfeketo, SA deputy minister of International Relations and Cooperation, said South Africa is ready to host the FOCAC Summit with high expectations.

"In the midst of global economic slow down, African companies are focussing their efforts on the emerging markets for new opportunities and access to the Chinese market is at the heart of this," Mfeketo said.

She also urged Africa and China to engage robustly for the good for the peoples of China and Africa.

"We expect FOCAC to take China-Africa to a new level and we encourage concrete deliverables for both. We have to engage in an objective way," Mfeketo said.