BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- "The reply from President Xi was the greatest surprise of the year to me," said Humphrey Moshi, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

Moshi is one of the 63 scholars from 50 African countries who received a reply from Chinese President Xi Jinping in late August ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit.