SA trade with China grows over 35 times

From $1.6 billion (about R30.5 billion) to nearly $57 billion is how the volume of the bilateral trade between China and South Africa has grown – 25 years after establishing diplomatic ties.

China and South Africa on Tuesday celebrated the years of diplomatic relations with the theme “forward together: Into the golden era of China-South Africa relations”.

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Chinese ambassador to SA Chen Xiaodong said by last year, the China-SA trade volume grew over 35 times to $57 billion – equivalent to one-fourth of China-Africa trade.

“South African beef, citrus, red wine, oysters, rooibos tea and other products, are popular among Chinese consumers.

“Chinese enterprises have invested over $25 billion in South Africa, which is 100 times more than 1994, having created more than 400 000 jobs,” said Chen.

Over the decades, the number of people travelling between the two countries has increased about 10-fold.

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“The High-Level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism that we established, is the first of its kind between China and all of Africa.

“Among all African countries, SA built the most sister province and city relations with China, set up the most Confucius institutes and classrooms, hosting the largest number of Chinese students.

“Chinese culture and language have become more and more popular in South Africa,” Chen said. There were several factors behind strong China-SA relations having made “glorious achievements”.

“The two sides have always enjoyed the strategic guidance of its leaders, President Xi Jinping and President Cyril Ramaphosa.

“During the past decade, President Xi paid four state visits to South Africa and steered the relations between our two countries forward from a strategic to long-term perspective.

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“We always adhere to mutual respect and trust. We support each other in exploring the path of development that suits our conditions, as well as on issues of our respective core interests and major concerns.

“The two sides work actively to seek win-win cooperation, striving for common development and shared prosperity.

“The two peoples have also forged a profound friendship through strong mutual support,” Chen said.