On 12 April, the plenary meeting of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the meeting for the establishment of the Chinese Preparatory Committee for the 5^th Ministerial Conference were held in Beijing. Mr. Zhang Ming, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister, and Mr. Li Jinzao, Vice Minister of Commerce, attended the meeting and delivered speeches. Altogether 41 officials from all membership agencies of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of FOCAC and the agencies involved in the preparations for the 5^th Ministerial Conference are present at the meeting.

At the meeting, the Chinese Preparatory Committee for the 5th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC was established. Mr. Lu Shaye, Secretary-general of the Chinese Preparatory Committee and Director-general of the Department of African Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and the leading agencies of all working teams of the Chinese Preparatory Committee, reported the preparatory work done in the previous stage. Also at the meeting, the work for the next stage was arranged and the agencies present were mobilized.

The officials from the agencies present at the meeting said that all the preparations for the 5^th Ministerial Conference shall be conducted in line with the overall arrangement and concrete requirements made at the meeting. They said that they shall proceed with the preparatory work with a high sense of political responsibility and in an all-round and down-to-earth manner, making contributions for the success of the conference.

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