DAKAR, Feb. 17 -- The plan launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in favor of Africa should be emulated by other partners of the continent, Senegal's President Macky Sall has said.

"I believe that the plan launched by the Chinese president in favor of Africa is an example for all other African partners. Anything else is just politics," he said, adding that "Africa had sufficiently matured to defend its interests in the cooperation with China."

Speaking during an interview with Chinese media before leaving for a state visit to China on Wednesday, Sall rejected accusations that had been made against China.

"I cannot say that there's exploitation of our natural resources in the relations between China and Senegal. That does not exist in our relation with China," Sall explained.

In his view, accusations made against China of only getting interested in Africa's natural resources can only be explained in the context of competition between the continent's partners.

"The reality of the situation is that cooperation between China and Africa is mutually beneficial. Everyone should have his part," Sall said.

"China has financial resources while Africa has natural resources and this partnership should be mutually beneficial," he said.

"Africa needs a lot of investments because it suffered a lot in its history, and did not benefit from massive investments like Europe after World War II through the Marshall Plan," he said.

On the security front, Sall urged China to work closely with African countries to contribute to border surveillance and fight against international terrorism.