PRETORIA:His Excellency Chen Xiaodong,the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China(PRC) says the diplomatic relations between China and South Africa resulted to trade worth over $57billion.
The Ambassador was speaking during the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Africa here at the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria on Tuesday.
The event was attended by,amongst others,former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe,Dr Naledi Parndo,the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and high profile figures within the South African Government.
“By 2022,our trade volume grew by almost 35 times to 57 billion US dollars,which is the largest bilateral trade relationship for South Africa and also accounts for one-fourth of China-Africa trade.South Africa is exporting more quality products to China.South African beef,citrus,wine, oysters,rooibos tea and many other products are now very popular among Chinese consumers.Chinese enterprises have invested over 25 billion US dollars in South Africa, which is over 100 times more than 1998 and also have created more than 400,000 local jobs.Third,warm people-to-people exchanges.Over the past 25 years, the number of people traveling between our two countries has increased by about 10-fold,”said the Chinese Ambassador.
The Ambassador further noted the high level of engagements between Chinese nationals and South African citizens.
“Among all African countries,South Africa built the most sister province and city relations with China,set up the most Confucius Institutes and classrooms, and hosts the largest number of Chinese students.The Chinese language has been included into South Africa’s national education system.Chinese culture and language have become more and more popular in South Africa.At the same time,we are happy to see thousands of South Africans teaching English in China.Thousands of South African students are also studying in China.Fourth,solid strategic cooperation.Our two countries closely coordinate and cooperate with each other in international organizations and multilateral mechanisms,such as the United Nations, G20,BRICS and the BASIC countries.We jointly promote multilateralism and greater democracy in international relations,” said the Ambassador.
On another note,the Ambassador said,China “is ready to share the huge market of the 1.4 billion Chinese people with South Africa” adding that,more South African high-quality products were welcome to enter the Chinese market.
Chinese Ambassador Chen Xiaodong says diplomatic with South Africa resulted to trade between two countries worth over $57billion.