International guests, who are in Beijing to attend the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), were delighted by service delivered by a robot barista at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted a grand banquet to welcome the guests at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday evening.
In the VIP lounge at the Great Hall of the People, an intelligent robot barista proved a hit with some of the African leaders.
"Incredible, I can't believe it," said President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa as he watched the robot adroitly making coffee.
The robot's agility also amazed Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera and Prime Minister of Egypt Mostafa Madbouly who all sipped coffee made by their robot server.
Scheduled to take place from Wednesday to Friday, the FOCAC summit is the largest diplomatic event hosted by China in recent years, with the highest attendance of foreign leaders.
Themed "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future," the three-day event aims to strengthen friendships and outline future cooperation between the two sides.
FOCAC guests enjoy coffee made by robot barista
China and Japan should work together to promote stable, lasting bilateral relations, and to uphold regional and international peace and stability, said China's top diplomat Wang Yi in a video speech at the 20th Beijing-Tokyo Forum on Wednesday.
Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, noted that China and Japan have an exchange history of more than 2,000 years, and that it has been over 50 years since the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
A China-Japan relationship with the right development direction is not only of great and positive significance to both countries and their peoples, but also to the peace and development of the region and the world, he said. Both sides should be guided by the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, adhere to the original aspirations of relations, follow the right path, seek common ground, and coordinate actions, all with the aim of promoting stable, lasting bilateral relations, he said. Noting that the two sides should understand the correct positioning of bilateral relations, Wang said China has always regarded Japan as an important cooperation partner, and hopes that Japan can view China's development objectively and rationally.
It is hoped that Japan will work with China to follow the correct positioning of the comprehensive advancement of the strategic, mutually beneficial relations between China and Japan, and implement the important consensus that the two countries should be cooperative partners and should not pose a threat to each other, he said.
The two sides should maintain the political foundations of bilateral relations. The four political documents between China and Japan have laid the political and legal foundations for bilateral relations, and they should not be blurred, retrogressed or undermined, Wang said.
China and Japan need to promote an open strategy of mutual benefits. Both sides should cherish their cooperation space and common interests that have already been established, and work together to maintain the stability and smooth operations of the global free trade system and industrial and supply chains, he said. Wang also called on the two countries to uphold regional and international peace and stability. In the face of rising unilateralism and protectionism, China and Japan need to work in tandem to safeguard Asian unity and cooperation to prevent external forces from fomenting confrontation, he said.
It is hoped that the Beijing-Tokyo Forum will continue to promote candid exchange, build consensus, provide suggestions for China-Japan relations, and make new contributions to the development of China-Japan relations that meet the requirements of the new era, he said.
Launched in 2005, the Beijing-Tokyo Forum is an annual event held alternately in Beijing and Tokyo. The forum is a high-level, large-scale, interactive exchange platform between the two countries.
China's top diplomat calls for joint efforts to promote stable, lasting China-Japan ties
