The website, produced by Xinhuanet under Xinhua News Agency, provides background information about the FOCAC and its development, member countries, previous meetings and related documents.

Operated in Chinese, English and French, the website (www.focacsummit.org) will cover major events, speeches and documents from the upcoming FOCAC summit.

Both Chinese and African leaders will review the achievements of China-Africa friendly cooperation over the past 50 years, and blueprint bilateral future cooperation and exchange views on major international issues, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry.

All the member states vowed to send delegation to the summit and more than 30 African heads of state or government expressed willingness to attend the FOCAC summit scheduled from Nov. 3 to 5,Liu said.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of diplomatic relationship between the People's Republic of China and African countries.

China released its first African policy paper early this year, putting forward its proposals for all-round cooperation with Africa in various fields in the coming years.

The summit, also the 3rd Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC, will focus on the subjects of "friendship, peace, cooperation and development".

The summit will be the highest-level, largest-scale meeting between China and African leaders since the founding of the People's Republic of China, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

During the summit, a high-level dialogue between leaders and business people and a China-Africa entrepreneur conference will beheld.

China-Africa economic ties have grown rapidly in recent years. Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that the two-way trade volume has rocketed from 4 billion U.S. dollars in 1995 to some 40 billion U.S. dollars in 2005.

Chinese direct investment in Africa has amounted to 1.18 billion U.S. dollars, with more than 800 Chinese enterprises on the continent.

FOCAC is a mechanism for collective dialogue and cooperation jointly established by China and Africa to cope with new challenges and facilitate common development.

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