On June 23, 2011, the Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (the Secretariat) held consultations with African diplomatic envoys to China in Beijing. Lu Shaye, Secretary-General of the Chinese Follow-up Committee and Director-General of the Department of African Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nolana Ta Ama, Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps in China and Ambassador of Togo to China, co-chaired the consultations. Officials from the membership agencies of the Chinese Follow-up Committee including the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture and diplomatic envoys and representatives from 47 African countries attended the consultations.

Director-General Lu introduced the joint plan for the 8th Senior Officials' Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to be held in October 2011, which was agreed by China and Egypt, co-chairs of the Forum. He also reported the overall implementation of the follow-up actions of the Fourth Ministerial Conference, the 4th China-AU Strategic Dialogue, and the consultations between China and western countries concerning African affairs since the beginning of the year. The officials from the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture introduced the implementation of follow-up actions in their respective areas and their visions for the next-step work.

The African diplomatic envoys expressed their appreciation for China's efforts in preparing for the 8th Senior Officials' Meeting. They spoke positively of new progress in the execution of the outcome of the Fourth Ministerial Conference. They expressed the willingness to work closely with China to run the Senior Officials' Meeting successfully and push forward the building of the Forum and the healthy and further development of China-Africa strategic partnership.