CHINESE President Xi Jinping welcomed the leaders of 53 African nations to Beijing today for this year’s Forum on China-Africa Co-operation summit.

The three-day meeting will bring African leaders together with senior Chinese officials to deepen relations and to sign off on new co-operation agreements

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the summit was the “largest diplomatic event” the country had hosted in recent years with the highest number of foreign leaders, adding that it was a “grand reunion of the China-Africa big family.”