Chinese President Xi Jinping will address the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit in Johannesburg on Friday, where the two sides are expected to explore new dimensions in cooperation as China's economic restructuring reshapes its relations with Africa.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and South African President Jacob Zuma arrive for a meeting at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, during the start of Xi's official visit to South Africa on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Going by the theme China-Africa Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development, the summit will be co-chaired by Xi and South African President Jacob Zuma.

The event, the first FOCAC summit to take place on the African continent, will be attended by heads of state and government, and representatives from some 50 African countries as well as the African Union Commission.

"The summit is likely to generate a framework document on 'industrial capacity cooperation' as China's economic restructuring changes China-Africa relations," Yin Yue, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times.

"Africa is currently undergoing industrialization while China's economy is shifting from labor-intensive and resource based to one that is more consumer-oriented. The changes on both sides mean that the traditional model, which focuses on commodity trade, will gradually shift to one of industrial cooperation," Yin said.

Although China does not have the most up-to-date technology in the world, the country's labor-intensive manufacturing model may prove to be attractive to Africa as it requires fewer funds and technology barriers, Yin noted.

China is Africa's largest trading partner, with trade reaching $222 billion in 2014. China's direct investment in Africa has grown at an average of 37 percent in the last 15 years, hitting $32.4 billion in 2014, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

However, trade and China's direct investment in Africa have dropped in the first half of this year, with direct investment sliding by more than 40 percent from the same period last year.

"China's demand for bulk commodities, such as raw materials and crude oil, has declined due to the economic slowdown. This, together with the drop in commodity prices in the international market, has affected some African countries and overall trade," He Wenping, an expert in African studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday. However, He believes that ample opportunities in economic cooperation remain.