From July 19 to 20, 2012, the 5th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC was held in Beijing.
Chinese president Hu Jintao and 6 African presidents, 2 prime ministers, the Forum's co-chair and special envoy of the president of Egypt, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon graced the opening ceremony with their presence. 50 foreign ministers and ministers responsible for international economic cooperation or their representatives from China and African states attended the conference.
The representatives of some international and African regional organizations sat in at the opening ceremony and conference as observers.
Themed around Open up New Prospects for New Type of China-Africa Strategic Partnership, the conference reviewed the Chinese report on the follow-up actions since the 4th Ministerial Conference, and adopted the Beijing Declaration of the 5th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the 5th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Action Plan (2013-2015), making comprehensive plans for the development of China-Africa relations in the following 3 years and priority areas for cooperation, and decided that the 6th Ministerial Conference would be held in South Africa in 2015.