On October 12, 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages on the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) together with Senegalese President Macky Sall, who is also the African Co-chair of the FOCAC.

President Xi and President Sall stressed in the congratulatory messages that on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the FOCAC, China and Senegal, the forum's Chinese and African Co-chairs, are willing to celebrate the moment of great and unique significance along with all African countries.

Both President Xi and President Sall said, under the joint efforts made by China and Africa over the past two decades, the FOCAC has grown into an important and dynamic platform for China and Africa to carry out collective dialogues as well as an effective mechanism for practical cooperation, and represents an important flag for South-South cooperation. China and Africa have all along adhered to the principle of putting people first and committed themselves to the high-level quality development of the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership, with FOCAC cooperation benefiting the people of both China and Africa. At the successful 2018 FOCAC summit held in Beijing, China and Africa agreed to build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future, charting the course for the future development of bilateral relations.

President Xi and President Sall pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic is a severe challenge for all human beings and brings a huge impact on the world economy. Both China and Africa are willing to continue to uphold the spirit of solidarity and cooperation, and work together to cope with various risks and challenges, making China-Africa cooperation a good example for multilateralism and mutual benefits, and contributing to defending international fairness and justice.

Xi Jinping and Macky Sall stressed that both countries are willing to work with FOCAC members, continue to uphold the principle of "achieving shared growth through consultation and collaboration", constantly enrich and improve the FOCAC's mechanism, give further play to the leading role of the FOCAC in China-Africa relations, connect China's Two Centenary Goals to the Agenda 2063 of the African Union, comprehensively implement the achievements of the Beijing Summit and the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19, push the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership to new height, and build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future, so as to benefit both Chinese and African people and build a better future for all human beings. We believe that the next session of the FOCAC to be held in Senegal in 2021 will further facilitate realizing the common goals of the two countries.