Beijing, China: President Danny Faure attended the opening ceremony for the leaders attending the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, at the Main Auditorium of the Great Hall of the People.

The keynote speech at the event was given by President Xi Jinping, who referred to the summit as the ‘reunion of the China-Africa big family’. He went on to discuss how Africa and China have embarked on a ‘distinct path of win-win cooperation’ together, and how China intends to contribute to a shared future for mankind in a time of mounting global uncertainty.

President Xi announced that China will extend a total of 60 billion US Dollars of financing to Africa, in the form of government assistance, investment, and financing by financial institutions and companies. Chinese companies are also encouraged to make at least 10 billion US Dollars of investment in Africa in the next 3 years.

Seychelles is expected to benefit from infrastructure development projects in energy and telecommunications, trade exchange, capacity building and training, and assistance with environmental conservation and climate change mitigation.