BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A new meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in autumn in Beijing where Chinese and African leaders will discuss future development and cooperation and hold in-depth exchanges of governance experience, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

Wang said that through the FOCAC summit, China and Africa will carry forward traditional friendship, deepen solidarity and cooperation, and open up new space for accelerating the common development of China and Africa.

In response to a question on China-Africa relations at a press conference held on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the national legislature, Wang highlighted a tradition that Chinese foreign ministers choose Africa as the first destination in their annual overseas visits.

This tradition, having lasted for 34 years, is "both unique and unparalleled" in the history of international exchanges, because China and Africa are brothers treating each other with sincerity and sharing a common future, Wang said.

"We have fought shoulder to shoulder against imperialism and colonialism. We have supported each other in pursuit of development. We have always stood for justice in a changing international landscape," he said.

Noting that China and Africa have entered a fast track in building the China-Africa community with a shared future, Wang said China has been Africa's biggest trading partner for 15 years and that China-Africa cooperation has grown larger with the people-to-people bond further enhanced.

As African countries have realized that they need to explore a development path that suits their national conditions and hold their future in their own hands, China will continue to stand firmly with Africa and support an Africa that is truly independent in thinking and ideas, Wang said.

China will assist Africa in building capacity for self-driven development and support faster modernization in the continent, he added.

Wang said that China has always maintained that Africa should not be marginalized. "We hope that all parties will, like China, pay greater attention to Africa and increase input to support Africa's development with real actions," he said.