On June 24, 2008, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun met with an inspection delegation of friendly personages from the parliaments of African French-speaking countries at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and gave a dinner in their honor. Zhai said to consolidate and develop friendly cooperative relations with African countries is an important part of China's foreign policy. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) founded by both sides in 2000 has become an important platform for China-Africa group dialogue and an effective mechanism for pragmatic cooperation. The implementation of the follow-up actions of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in November 2006, especially the implementation of China's 8 policy measures on pragmatic cooperation with Africa, has made important headway. He said inviting the inspection delegation of MPs from African French-speaking countries to China is one of the follow-up actions of the Beijing Summit, which will surely play a positive role in promoting China-Africa friendly cooperative relations.

An MP from Togo, on behalf of the delegation members, said that African countries sincerely thank for China's important contributions to Africa's development and speak highly of the fruitful cooperation between China and Africa in recent years. He expressed hope that China-Africa friendly relations will continue to be consolidated and developed. The parliaments, which the delegation members are from, all hold that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and hope that the Taiwan question will be resolved through peaceful means.

The delegation is visiting China at the invitation of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Chinese Follow-up Actions Committee. The members include 22 MPs from parliamentary friendship groups of Algeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Tunisia and other 7 countries and 2 MPs from inter-parliamentary committee of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). Besides Beijing, the delegation will also visit Shanxi and Jiangsu.