UN chief: FOCAC 'extremely important'

The cooperation between China and Africa is an "absolutely vital" instrument for the success of Africa's development, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday before departing for Beijing for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

FOCAC "is an extremely important tool, in which it will be possible for Chinese leaders and African leaders to discuss matters of common interest", said Guterres in an interview with Chinese media at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

"The Africa-China cooperation is a central part of South-South Cooperation. South-South Cooperation is more and more important in today's world as a fundamental tool to allow for African countries to benefit from what has been the remarkable success of Chinese economic development in the past decades."