Golden age for strong and enduring friendship promises bright future

The relationship between China and South Africa continues to deepen as both nations expand their cooperation in trade, investment, emerging industries, agriculture and cultural exchanges.

China's Ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng stated that bilateral relations have entered a "golden era" when he recently met with Naledi Pandor, South Africa's minister of international relations and cooperation.

Wu said China is willing to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in economic, trade and cultural fields, and push the partnership to new heights.

Pandor noted that the friendship between the peoples of South Africa and China has a long history. South Africa is grateful to China for its valuable support in South Africa's economic and social development over the years, she added.

The new South African government will continue to pursue a friendly policy toward China and is willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China to bolster bilateral ties, benefiting the peoples of both countries, she added.

In 2023, the trade volume between China and South Africa reached $55.62 billion. In the first five months of this year, bilateral trade totaled $23.5 billion, with South Africa's exports to China amounting to $15.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of nearly 14 percent.

For 15 consecutive years, China has maintained its position as South Africa's largest trading partner. South Africa, in turn, has been China's largest trading partner in Africa for 14 consecutive years. South African products such as wine, rooibos tea and aloe vera gel have become popular in the Chinese market.

The scale of bilateral investment also continues to expand. By the end of 2023, the total investment stock of Chinese companies in South Africa reached $10.1 billion. It covers sectors such as mining, home appliances, automobiles, building materials, finance and media. South Africa's cumulative actual investment in China is about $900 million, involving areas such as media, mining, chemicals and food.

In a recent interview with South Africa's Independent Media, Wu said that China has significant advantages in areas such as new energy vehicles and solar energy, which provide a solid foundation for cooperation with South Africa and Africa. China is also willing to be a partner in South Africa's modernization.

The Chinese government is committed to promoting high-level opening-up and sharing the opportunities of China's vast market with countries around the world, including South Africa, he said. Wu added that by 2035, China's middle-income population is expected to increase to 800 million people.

In recent years, China has opened its agricultural market and established a "green channel" for South Africa to export such products to China.

In June 2022, China and South Africa signed a quarantine protocol for soybean exports to China. In 2023, South Africa exported 147,000 metric tons of soybean to China. Also that year, a protocol was signed for the export of South African avocados to China.

Expanding agricultural exports to China is directly related to the interests of South African farmers and is beneficial for job creation, Wu said.

"We warmly welcome South African farms to fully explore the opportunities in the Chinese market and expand their exports to China," Wu said.

Cultural exchanges have also become an increasingly important aspect of the partnership.

South Africa is home to more Confucius Institutes and independent Confucius Classrooms than any other African country, with seven Confucius Institutes and three independent Confucius Classrooms currently operating across the nation. These institutions have more than 10,000 registered students learning Chinese.

South Africa's landmarks, such as the Cape of Good Hope, Kruger National Park and the Garden Route, are well known to the Chinese public. South Africa is also one of the first pilot countries for the resumption of outbound tourism for Chinese people after the pandemic, with 11,000 Chinese tourists visiting South Africa in the first quarter of this year alone, an 82 percent year-on-year increase.

"I believe that the increasingly close cultural exchanges between the two countries will serve as a cornerstone for further enhancing China-South Africa economic and trade relations," Wu said.

wangjinhui@chinadaily.com.cn