China will help African nations carry out 10 poverty reduction and agricultural projects and send 500 agricultural experts to Africa to fight poverty and benefit farmers in the continent, President Xi Jinping said on Monday.

Xi made the announcement in a speech delivered via video link at the opening ceremony of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing.

The nation will set up a group of demonstration and training centers for modern agriculture between the two sides and encourage Chinese institutions and businesses to develop demonstration villages for agricultural development and poverty reduction in Africa, he said.