Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday warmly congratulated African countries and their people on the opening of the African Union (AU) summit in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania.

In his message to the 31th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU, Xi said that the AU is a banner of unity and strength and actively pushes forward the process of African integration.

African countries continue to speak in one voice on major international and regional issues and their ability to safeguard peace and security has increasingly strengthened, Xi said.

He wishes that greater achievements would be scored by African countries under the guidance of the AU.

Xi said that the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be held in September under the theme of China-Africa: Toward an Even Stronger Community with a Shared Future Through Win-Win Cooperation.

China will work together with Africa to align the summit's theme with the plan of jointly building the Belt and Road, the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, Agenda 2063 of the AU and other development strategies of African nations and push the China-Africa comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to a new level, Xi added.

Xi said he looks forward to participating in the Beijing summit together with African leaders to discuss plans for the development of China-Africa cooperation so as to improve the well-being of the Chinese and African peoples and promote world peace and development.