State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s five-day Africa tour starting on Jan 2 will help boost the traditional friendship with nations of the continent and implement the consensus Chinese and African leaders reached at the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, analysts said.

Wang will visit Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Senegal and the headquarters of the African Union during his stay in Ethiopia. It will be the first time Wang has made an official visit to Gambia or Burkina Faso. The two countries resumed diplomatic ties with China in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

Wang’s visit to Africa is a continuation of the tradition of Chinese foreign ministers choosing Africa for their first overseas trip of the year since 1991, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Dec 28.

It demonstrates the priority China places on developing its ties with Africa, Hua said.

During his visit to the continent, Wang will follow the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith in working with the continent to strengthen communication and alignment with African countries, she added.

Wang’s African visits take place a few months after the FOCAC Beijing Summit held in September, 2018, the forum’s largest summit, involving 40 presidents, 10 prime ministers and one vice-president from African countries as well as the chairman of the African Union Commission.