Chinese President Xi Jinping(front) delivers a speech at the Congolese parliament in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, March 29, 2013. Xi arrived in Brazzaville Friday for a state visit to the Republic of Congo. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

In a speech delivered at the Congolese parliament on Friday, Xi said China will always stay as an "all-weather" friend and partner of Africa.

"No matter how the international situation will change, China is always Africa's all-weather friend and partner," said Xi.

The Chinese president, on his last leg of a four-nation tour that also took him to Russia, Tanzania, and South Africa, said he had met with many African leaders during the trip and had extensive contacts with African people from various sectors.

"I have a very deep feeling that Africa is a continent full of vitality and hope," Xi said. "China-Africa cooperation has great potential and bright prospects."

Looking head, the development of China and Africa provides unprecedented opportunities for each other, Xi said, urging the two sides to stick to the path of mutually beneficial cooperation and common development.

China will firmly keep up solidarity and mutual assistance with African nations, firmly strive to enhance mutual trust with them, and firmly maintain close cooperation and increase coordination with them in international affairs, the Chinese president said.

He noted that an important pillar for the new type strategic partnership between China and Africa is the close ties between their peoples, calling it a "soft propellant" compared with the "hard backing" such as economic cooperation.

Only with active public participation can the China-Africa friendship maintain its vigor and can the bilateral cooperation be consolidated continuously, he said.

The development of such relationship can enjoy wider and firmer public support only when the two-way cooperation continuously benefits people from both sides, he added.

He called for building more platforms for direct contacts between the two peoples, and providing more information sources for mutual understanding.

Xi, the first Chinese head of state to visit the Republic of Congo since the two countries forged diplomatic relations in 1964, flew in Friday from Durban, South Africa, where he attended a summit of BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

He will wrap up his four-nation tour on Saturday, his first trip abroad after assuming China's presidency earlier this month.