Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory letter to the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, which opened Thursday in Changsha, capital city of central China's Hunan Province.

China and Africa are good friends, good partners and good brothers with shared destiny and vision, Xi said.

Over the years, in line with the tide of history and the development needs of each side, China and Africa have carried out practical cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, bringing remarkable results that have benefited people of both sides, Xi said.

The expo, announced at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on the China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) last September, was established to provide a platform for deepening economic and trade cooperation between the two sides, he stressed.

The first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo brings together the Chinese and African governments, think tanks, enterprises and financial institutions to discuss major cooperation projects.

It is hoped that the two sides will strengthen coordination to better implement the eight major initiatives put forward at the Beijing summit of the FOCAC, actively explore new paths for cooperation, open up new points of growth for collaboration, and promote China-Africa economic and trade cooperation to a new level, Xi said.