ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is expected to explore new paths that will elevate the Sino-Africa cooperation to a higher level, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Tan Jian said on Thursday.

The FOCAC Beijing summit, scheduled for Sept. 3-4, will run under the theme, "China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation."

Speaking to the press, Tan said the summit would be a historic event of grand family gathering between China and African countries, following the previous summit held in 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"It will be a historic event, providing a valuable opportunity for Chinese and African leaders to gather in Beijing, to discuss about fraternity and cooperation, as well as joint efforts to map out a new blueprint for China-Africa friendly cooperation," said Tan.

The ambassador noted that the Beijing summit would serve as a platform for China and Africa to promote their friendly cooperation in a holistic manner and address global challenges in an active manner.

"It is our strong belief that the success of the Beijing summit would manifest the vitality of unity and cooperation between China and Africa, further promote the sound momentum of the overall growth of the developing countries," he said.

The ambassador said that the Beijing summit would make a renewed call for a stronger community with a shared future between China and Africa.

He said China through the summit would also align the Belt and Road Initiative with the Agenda 2063 of the African Union (AU), the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, and development strategies of respective African countries.

He revealed that numerous African leaders, chairperson of the AU Commission, the UN Secretary General, 27 international and African regional organizations are expected to attend the summit.

Speaking to Xinhua recently, the AU Commissioner for Social Affairs, Amira Elfadil, said that the FOCAC summit has now become a regular summit between Africa and China, and that preparation for the event is going on well on both sides.