PRETORIA -- Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa jointly attended the opening ceremony of a high-level dialogue between the two countries' scientists here on Tuesday.

China and Africa, who have stood together through thick and thin, have always been a community with a shared future and a community of shared interests based on win-win cooperation, Xi said during a speech at the dialogue.

Recalling the successful Johannesburg summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in December 2015, Xi said he is glad to see that the science and research cooperation projects inked in the outcome documents of the summit have been well implemented with remarkable achievements.

With joint efforts from both sides, the China-South Africa innovative cooperation in science and technology has been actively advancing, Xi said.

With important progress in technology cooperation in various fields, and multiple achievements in cutting-edge technology and industrial application cooperation, the breakthrough in science and technology made by Chinese and South African scientists have caught global attention, which enriched the contents of China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership and became a new growth point in expanding their mutually beneficial cooperation, said Xi.