中非合作论坛为两国创造新机会

Zhou Yuxiao, former Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, says the summit is a channel to connect China's 13th Five Year Plan and Africa's Agenda 2063.

"To promote capacity cooperation, transferring high-quality surplus capacity to Africa, to accelerate industrialization and agricultural modernization in Africa will be one of the highlights of this summit."

Despite slowing growth in both regions, China and Africa hope to boost their trade on the occasion of this summit.

Garth Strachan with South Africa's Department of Trade and Industry says China and Africa are now seeking a restructuring of their export profile.

"Somewhere in the region, 90 percent of the exports to the People's Republic of China are primary commodities and there is agreement in the relationship and the strategic partnership that we need to change that profile in the direction of the export of more value-added products."

Debt levels among African countries is also a big area of concern. Some observers hope that China will provide relief for these countries.

Managing director of Emerging Markets & Africa, Martyn Davies, said Chinese policy banks have been the single largest lenders to African states.

"Many of these loans are underwritten by sovereign guarantees and many of these loans are also underwritten by commodities, i.e. high commodity prices. In light of recent, the last 12 months, recent collapse of commodities prices - oil, solid commodities, a lot of these maturity and the repayment of these debts clearly need to be pushed out."

Besides capacity cooperation, cultural exchange is also expected to be among the topics during the summit.

Liu Hongwu, director of Institute of African Studies of Zhejiang Normal University, says China and Africa can strengthen their cooperation between think tanks and universities, learn more from each other's culture and work together to protect cultural heritages.

"All of these events are open to public. With more cultural exchanges, the relationship between China and Africa will be reinforced."

The Johannesburg Summit is the second summit in the 15 years since the FOCAC' inception, and the first to be held in Africa.

Upon his arrival in Pretoria, President Xi Jinping has said the summit will serve as a milestone in pushing all-round development of China-Africa relations and promoting a more balanced, inclusive and sustainable development of the world.