Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi addresses the Third Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, Nov. 3, 2006. -Xinhua

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi put forward three proposals in Beijing Friday for future Sino-African cooperation, saying both China and African countries should make further effort to tap cooperation potentials.

Wu made the proposals at the opening ceremony of the Third Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, amechanism for collective dialogue and cooperation jointly established by China and Africa to cope with new challenges and facilitate common development.

In her first proposal, Wu said the two sides should always instill new vitality into the Forum, and draw up plan for future cooperation and carry out follow-up activities to turn the Forum into a pacesetter in promoting China-Africa all-round friendship.

She said in her second proposal that the two sides, with an eye on new developments, should fully tap cooperation potential and draw on each other's strengths to broaden and upgrade cooperation.

The two sides should be guided by the principle of being open and inclusive, take a creative approach and benefit from each other's experiences so as to enable the Forum to play a major role in boosting international cooperation in development, she added.

Wu finally called on the two sides to enhance coordination to ensure smooth progress in cooperation.

"The two sides should give full play to the role of the Forum as a mechanism of collective dialogue, keep close consultation, develop new consensus, closely study new trends in cooperation, expand common interests and appropriately address new problems arising in the course of cooperation, so as to turn the Forum into an effective platform for safeguarding the common interests of the two sides," she said.