Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Senegalese President Macky Sall on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 23, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 23 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met here on Wednesday with Senegalese President Macky Sall on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit.

Noting that Senegal is an important partner of China in Africa, Xi said that with joint efforts in recent years, the two countries have enjoyed ever-deepening political mutual trust and fruitful cooperation in various fields.

Xi said that China firmly supports Senegal's endeavors in safeguarding national stability and development, adding that China stands ready to strengthen mutual support with Senegal and deepen cooperation in such areas as industry, agriculture, infrastructure and human resources, jointly safeguard their legitimate right to development, and push for greater development of their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

He stressed that currently, the international situation is undergoing profound and complex changes, and that China and Africa need more than ever to strengthen solidarity and cooperation.

Xi said China supports the African Union in joining the Group of 20, and stands ready to share with African brothers its development experience and opportunities, and push for the joint pursuit of a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era by continuously upholding the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and pursuing the greater good and shared interests.

As co-chairs of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), China and Senegal have supported and cooperated with each other and successfully held a series of important events including the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19, he said.

China, Xi added, stands ready to work with Senegal to continue to strengthen communication and coordination, push for the implementation of the nine programs announced at the FOCAC, and make new contributions to consolidating China-Africa solidarity and cooperation.

For his part, Sall said that Senegal and China are high-quality comprehensive strategic partners, hailing Xi as a great friend of Africa and Senegal.

He noted that the two sides, in the spirit of sincerity and friendship, have carried out mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide range of fields such as infrastructure, industry, agriculture and education.

Senegal, he said, firmly adheres to the one-China policy, appreciates China's foreign policy of peace, and hopes to work with China to deepen bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

The vigorous Africa-China cooperation meets the development needs of Africa and has been implemented efficiently, which has strongly underpinned the economic and social development of African countries, he said.

Sall thanked China for taking the lead in publicly supporting AU's G20 membership, saying that his country, as a co-chair of FOCAC, will continue to closely communicate and work with China to promote the further development of Africa-China relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Senegalese President Macky Sall on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 23, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]