Senior officials from Chinese and African political parties will gather in Beijing next week to discuss ways to promote agricultural cooperation.

The International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) made the announcement Tuesday at a press conference.

About 150 representatives of African political parties, government departments leaders and entrepreneurs from about 20 African countries would attend the China-Africa Agriculture Cooperation Forum set for August 11 and 12, said IDCPC deputy head Li Jinjun.

"We hope that the forum will enable participants to learn more about each other in terms of agricultural development and policies and also help explore new areas and ways of cooperation, promote China-Africa pragmatic cooperation through party-to-party channels and deepen the new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa," Li said.

More than 200 Chinese representatives, including businesses, would also attend the forum. Li hoped the forum would work as a platform for Chinese and African businesses to increase agricultural cooperation.

A series of agreements on agricultural cooperation were expected to be signed during the forum, Li said.

The forum, with the theme "China-Africa Agriculture Cooperation in the New Situation: Opportunities and Challenges," is jointly hosted by the IDCPC and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The forum was originally planned to be held in northeast China's Jilin province, and was changed to Beijing because of heavy flooding in Jilin.

China pledged to construct 10 technology demonstration centers at the 2006 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in an effort to assist African countries boost food production through technology and skills transfer.

China later announced an expansion of its agricultural technology demonstration centers in Africa to 20 during the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in 2009.

Fourteen demonstration centers are already established in Africa, and China has trained more than 4,200 African technological staff since 2004, according to the IDCPC.

Li hoped more businesses would help spread China's advanced agricultural technology to Africa.