President Xi marks 60th anniversary of African-Asian movement opposed to colonialism

The Asian-African Conference, where leaders of developing nations have vowed to build a fairer international order, ended in Indonesia on Friday with leaders taking a symbolic walk to the venue of the first conference in 1955.

Commemorations marking the 60th anniversary of the conference began at 9am in the city of Bandung as representatives from about 100 Asian and African nations walked from the Savoy Homann Hotel to the Gedung Merdeka art deco building.

The first Asian-African Conference  saw representatives of about 30 newly independent nations form the basis of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was opposed to colonialism.

President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo  waved to onlookers during the walk.

The representatives then watched a video commemorating the first conference together with a live traditional Indonesian cultural performance, state-run Xinhua reported.

Widodo said Asian-African countries needed to work together to create prosperity through economic and trade cooperation.