Zuma's China mission 'successful'
Thabo Mokgola
1 October 2004
Deputy President Jacob Zuma and a delegation of three ministers and three deputy ministers met with political and business leaders during a three-day visit to China this week.
Zuma was accompanied by Ministers Thoko Didiza (agriculture and land affairs), Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (health) and Lindiwe Sisulu (housing), and Deputy Ministers Aziz Pahad (foreign affairs), Lulama Xingwana (minerals and energy) and Lindiwe Hendricks (trade and industry).
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Zuma's spokesperson, Lakela Kaunda, said the delegation visited the cities of Shenzhen, in Guangdong Province, the capital Beijing and Xi'an in Shaanxi Province.
In Beijing, Zuma held discussions with his counterpart, Vice President Zeng Qinghong, during which they pledged to deepen co-operation between the two countries in a number of areas.
Discussions touched on a wide range of issues, including the necessity to increase trade relations, the need to strengthen co-operation between China and Africa through the Sino-Africa Forum, and the importance of stronger co-operation on South-South relations to advance the agenda of developing countries.
Zuma also paid a courtesy call on President Hu Jintao.
Kaunda said the ministers and deputy ministers met with their counterparts, and that progress was made in a number of
areas.
During a meeting between Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza and her Chinese counterpart, Li Changjiang, China announced that it was lifting its ban on South African animal products, effected in 2000 after the outbreak of the foot and mouth disease in KwaZulu-Natal.
Deputy Trade and Indutry Minister Lindiwe Hendricks met Minister Gan Guoping of China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and exchanged experiences on competition policy and consumer protection.
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Minister of Construction Liu Zhifeng discussed technical exchanges between SA and China for low-cost housing.
China's largest trading partner in Africa
"Since diplomatic relations were established between South Africa and China in 1998, bilateral relations have expanded rapidly in the political, economic, technological, cultural, educational and scientific fields", Kaunda said.
"As a rapidly rising economic giant, a
permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and the largest developing country in the world, China is seen as a strategic partner of South Africa."
During Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong's visit to South Africa in June, a number of agreements were signed between Pretoria and Beijing, as well as between the two countries' private sectors.
These included agreements on education, agriculture, and granting aid to South Africa on human resources projects.
Others included a cooperation agreement between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of SA and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and a Letter of Intent between Sasol and a consortium of Chinese companies.
South Africa is the largest trading partner of China in Africa, with trade volume between China and South Africa accounting for 20 percent of total trade between China and Africa in 2003.
The trade volume between the two countries increased from R9.3-billion in
1990 to R23.3-billion last year.
Source: BuaNews
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