The 3rd Workshop for African Journalists held in Beijing on March 13, 2006.Ambassodor Li Qiangmin, Deputy Director-general of the African Department, Chinese Foreign Ministry, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.

Ambassador Li said, since the inauguration of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the cooperation in the field of human resource development between China and the African Countries has been continuously expanding with fruitful results. During the 2nd Ministerial Conference of FOCAC held in Addis Ababa in December 2003, the Chinese Government promised to help African countries train 10,000 personnel in various professions within 3 years. The scale of cooperation in human resource development has been quickly enlarged over the past two years. This year, the Chinese side will continue to strengthen this cooperation to achieve the goal of training 10,000 personnel in 3 years. Li emphasized that the Workshop for African Journalists is one of the key components of China-Africa human resource cooperation, and will help enhance the exchange between Press of China and Africa, increase their mutual understanding, promote traditional friendship and push forward cooperation in practical terms.

This workshop, hosted by the Secretariat of FOCAC, is attended by 42 journalists from 23 African countries. During the workshop, the journalists will have discussions on such topics as China-Africa Relations & China's African Policy, China's Experience and Achievements on Economic Reform and National Development, Taiwan Question, and China's Journalistic View & the Operation of Chinese Press. In addition, they will visit Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television (CCTV), China Radio International (CRI) and Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), and will pay visits to the cities of Hefei and Qingdao.