On November 9, 2009, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi who was attending the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) told a Xinhua News Agency correspondent during the exclusive interview that FOCAC has become the engine for China-Africa cooperation and what related parties should do next is to make the engine go full stream ahead.

Yang noted that the level of the Fourth Ministerial Conference is very high. National leaders of 18 African countries and dozens of ministers of foreign affairs, economic affairs and commerce from African countries attended the opening ceremony. Against the special background of coping with the international financial crisis and global climate change, the conference discussed such topics as politics, economy, culture, education and technology.

He said, “FOCAC is an important platform and a banner leading China-Africa cooperation. It can also be said as the engine for China-Africa cooperation. Now we need to make the engine go full stream ahead.”

He pointed out that the Chinese diplomacy serves the fundamental interest of the Chinese people as well as the common interest of mankind. The Chinese foreign ministry will constantly push forward various activities of FOCAC and work with relevant parties to actively implement the spirit of the Fourth Ministerial Conference.

During the press conference of the closing ceremony at noon, Yang said that participants at the Fourth Ministerial Conference exchanged in-depth views, reached wide consensus and achieved fruitful outcomes. The Conference reviewed with satisfaction the implementation of the follow-up actions of FOCAC Beijing Summit, shared opinions extensively on the future development of China-Africa relations, agreed unanimously to further strengthen pragmatic cooperation, provided effective guidance and made a comprehensive plan for reinforcing China-Africa cooperation under new circumstances.

The two-day Fourth Ministerial Conference of FOCAC closed in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on November 9, 2009. The Conference passed two outcome documents, i.e. the FOCAC Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration and the FOCAC - Sharm el-Sheikh Action Plan for 2010-2012 to establish the direction of China-Africa cooperation in the next 3 years.