AfricaNews - Egypt will preside the first Afro-Chinese Ministerial Consultative Meeting set to take place in New York City on September 26th 2007.

The Chinese minister of foreign affairs and his African counterparts from 46 countries will attend the preparatory meeting.

This meeting aims to pave the way ahead of the 2009Afro-Chinese summit which will be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh.

The 2-day meeting will discuss the progress in the implementation of the Beijing Plan of Action (which came out as a result of the Afro-Chinese Summit held in Beijing in November 2006) and will also evaluate the steps taken to enhance cooperation between the two parties.

The Beijing Platform of Action called for:

-The establishment of an Afro-Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
-The organization of commercial exhibitions of both African and Chinese products.
-The enhancement of Afro-Chinese cooperation in all fields for the next three years.