LUSAKA - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa left on Tuesday for China to attend the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) scheduled for November 4- 5.

Briefing media ahead of his departure, Mwanawasa said Zambia would take advantage of the summit to further deepen the friendship and cooperation of the two countries.

"China is becoming a strong power in the world and we want to forge ahead with the relations," he said.

The president said China and Africa have established diplomatic relations for 50 years and the FOCAC has been in existence for six years.

"We want to review the friendship between Africa and China and we want to see how the forum can benefit the people of the two countries," Mwanawasa said.

"We also want to strategize how China can assist us," he added.

Mwanawasa was accompanied by Foreign Minister Mundia Sikatana, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Kenneth Konga and scores of other senior officials.

The FOCAC, the third and the largest one since its inauguration in 2000, is expected to chart the way forward for China-Africa cooperation in all areas in the next three years and promote friendship, peace, cooperation and development.

The summit of heads of state and government will be preceded by a ministerial conference which will take place on November 3.

The Zambian president will, on his return journey, stop over in London for an official visit and is expected home on November 17.