In an interview with Xinhua, Vieira said Africa and China has forged a partnership of cooperation, due to the developmental challenges facing the African continent, and the current international economic order.

It is indispensable for the two sides to strengthen their strategic cooperative relations, so that they could cope with the unbalanced development in the world, he said.

He added that the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) needs the concerted efforts of the whole world.

Vieira made the remarks prior to the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) scheduled for Nov. 3-5, which will be the highest-level and the largest meeting between Chinese and African leaders, since China and African countries started to forge cooperative ties in the 1950s.

He will join some 30 African heads of state or government and their Chinese counterparts in the conference, with aims to blueprint the future of China-Africa cooperation after 50 years of traditional friendship.

"Undoubtedly, FOCAC is an important platform for dialogues and cooperation," said the 66-year-old president. "With the help of the forum, the strategic partnership between China and the African continent can be further enhanced."

External aid is of great importance for African countries to jointly deal with the developmental challenges they face, within the framework of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), Vieira said.

Therefore, he said, the development within Africa heavily relies on the nature of cooperation between Africa and donor countries.

Against this background, African nations are earnestly expecting results from the FOCAC summit, added the president.

Guinea-Bissau hopes that the upcoming summit in Beijing would further consolidate the foundation of cooperation within the forum, so as to inject renewed vitality into the existing relations of cooperation between China and Africa.

On the friendly relations of cooperation between Guinea-Bissau and China, Vieira said that bilateral ties entered a new phase in 1998, when the two countries resumed their diplomatic relations.

Guinea-Bissau's government regards China as a strategic partner for cooperation.

Vieira noted that in recent years, China has always sided with Guinea-Bissau, and has also provided necessary assistance for the African country in its time of need, when it is facing a difficult situation.

The president said he is optimistic about the prospects of relations between Guinea-Bissau and China, which would reach a new height in the near future.

The two countries would further broaden their cooperation, especially in the fields of private investment as well as science and technology, he said.

Guinea-Bissau's government would create the necessary conditions needed to attract investment from China, so as to boost his country's economic development, whose immediate-term objective is the development of agriculture, Vieira said.

He said he believes that his upcoming official visit to China is bound to further advance the development of bilateral relations.