President Xi Jinping, his wife, Peng Liyuan, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo and his wife, Iriana, wave as they walk with other heads of state down the street during ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Asian African Conference in Bandung on western Java island on Friday. Bandung was the site of the landmark 1955 Asian African Conference, credited with galvanizing momentum toward the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement. Bay Ismoyo / Agence France-Presse

It took less than 10 minutes, but the walk in Bandung on Friday symbolized a six-decade march of progress for Asia and Africa as they continue their journey of development and the pursuit of a fairer global order.

Leaders from the two continents, led by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and President Xi Jinping, followed the footsteps of their predecessors from the 1955 Bandung Conference as they went from the Savoy Homann Hotel to Gedung Merdeka, or the Independence Building.

The walk was part of the commemorative events for the 60th anniversary of the first large-scale Asia-Africa conference, which struggled for independence and development, and it helped renew the Bandung Spirit of solidarity, friendship and cooperation.

After arriving at the Gedung Merdeka, the leaders, including Xi, signed the Bandung Message, which underscored the importance of carrying forward the spirit "in the midst of increasingly complex global challenges".

The two continents have become global economic powerhouses, and their combined economic output reached $29 trillion last year, accounting for 37.5 percent of the world's total and equaling 47 times the 1970 volume.

China, for example, is now the world's second-largest economy and contributes one-fifth of Asia's economic growth.

Still, Widodo said on Friday that Asian and African countries must work shoulder-to-shoulder to create prosperity through economic and trade cooperation.

He said Indonesia has not been freed from the scourge of poverty and still lags behind developed countries. "This problem is also faced by friends in Asia and Africa."

Xi, during a speech at Wednesday's Asian-African leaders' meeting in Jakarta, said China will continue to offer assistance to developing countries with no political strings attached.

He also announced new measures, including granting duty-free status to 97 percent of imported products within the year for the least-developed countries with which it has diplomatic ties.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe welcomed on Friday the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as "the voice of the South".

The bank, dedicated to improving regional infrastructure, has drawn 57 countries to join as founding members and is expected to start operations by the end of this year.

Xu Weizhong, an expert on African studies under the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the economic sector tops the Asia-Africa cooperation agenda, and more needs to be done to boost participation in global governance and people-to-people exchanges.

The two continents, mostly developing countries, have diversified cultures and systems, and some are enduring conflict, so they should seek common ground and set differences aside, as well as handle relationships with the developed countries, said Xu.

Xi returned to Beijing on Friday night. During the five-day trip, he also visited Pakistan, which signed more than 50 cooperation documents with China worth $46 billion.

Mo Jingxi and Xinhua contributed to this story.

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