It is for the very first time in China's diplomatic history to hold such a large-scale multilateral conference between China and Africa, and there were a host of new topics concerning preparations for the conference. The FOCAC Conference Preparatory Committee was set up in November 1999, with then Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and then Minister Shi Guangsheng serving as honorary chairmen, Vice Foreign Minister Ji Peiding and Vice Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Sun Guangxiang as chairmen. With the Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation as leading departments, leading officials of the other 18 central departments closely associated with China-Africa cooperation were also included in the committee.

The Secretariat of the Conference Preparatory Committee was established under the Department of African Affairs of Foreign Ministry, with seven functional teams respectively in charge of political affairs, trade and economy, conference affairs, protocol matters, information, logistics and security. Under the leadership of the Conference Preparatory Committee, the teams, in the innovative and pragmatic spirit, managed to put forward the plans for all preparations soon after they began to operate. They also worked out details for the plans and carried the plans out, laying a solid foundation for the successful convocation of the first Ministerial Conference of FOCAC.  

In the course of preparing for the first Ministerial Conference of FOCAC, preparations for and discussions about the documents by both sides were regarded as essential.

    China extensively solicited the opinions of African countries shortly after completing the draft of the documents. Chinese officials and African ambassadors in Beijing held 11 rounds of consultations. In order to get more advice and suggestions, Ji Peiding and Sun Guangxiang, chairmen of the Preparation Committee for the first ministerial conference of FOCAC, visited a number of African countries to discuss the documents and the arrangement for the conference. 
    
    Frankly voicing their opinions, the two sides expanded common interests and respected and addressed each other's concerns. After important revisions of the documents were made three times, Africa’s position and points of view were fully respected and reflected. As a result, the documents eventually important ones which were of a far-reaching influence, which served as a great guideline for the development of China-Africa ties and which could greatly promote South-South cooperation. 
    
    Following one year of efforts of the two sides, the first Ministerial Conference of FOCAC was held in Beijing from Oct. 10 to 12, 2000, which turned out to be a great success and scored substantial results.

    It had two characteristics: first, participants in the conference were state leaders and high-ranking officials.

    Then Chinese President Jiang Zemin, then Premier Zhu Rongji and then Vice President Hu Jintao, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of the Democratic People's Republic of Algeria, President Gnasinbe Eyadema of the Republic of Togo, President Frederic Chiluba of the Republic of Zambia, President Benjamin William Mkapa of the United Republic of Tanzania, Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity Salim Ahmed Salim attended the opening ceremony and delivered important speeches. Also attending were 80 ministers from 44 African countries with diplomatic relations with China, representatives of 17 regional and international organizations, executives from the business communities in China and Africa. The conference was attended by more than 500 people from African countries.

　 Second, the conference had rich contents. In order to deepen understanding and cooperation between Chinese and African enterprises and encourage Chinese enterprises to break into the African market, the leaders from 20 provinces and about 100 representatives of more than 50 Chinese enterprises were invited by the Organizing Committee to the meeting, where they also held in-depth discussions with African officials on how to expand in trade and economic cooperation. Four theme meetings, in the form of symposiums and with different subjects, were arranged on the sidelines of the forum, while the main conference was going on, so as to promote substantial cooperation between China and Africa.

    The themes of the meetings were:  1. Cooperation in education, science and technology, and health ; 2. Exchange of experience in reforms carried out in China and African countries; 3. China-Africa investment and trade; 4. Eliminating poverty and achieving sustainable agricultural development. In addition, to enable African participants to gain a better understanding of China, the Guangdong Provincial government invited foreign delegates to visit Guangzhou and Shenzhen.