Aug. 25 – South African President Jacob Zuma touched down in Beijing on Tuesday for his first state visit to China with an aim to strengthen strategic and commercial ties between the two nations.
Wasting no time, Zuma and Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a “comprehensive strategic partnership” immediately following a one-hour talk in the Great Hall of the People yesterday afternoon and both parties signed the Beijing Declaration which covers trade, investment, mineral exploration and agriculture.
“In this new spirit of China-South Africa relations, we will work together to advance the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership,” Hu told Zuma during talks.
Hu also stated that China and South Africa need to strengthen collaboration in the fields of culture, education, media, healthcare and tourism in addition to bolstering academic and scientific cooperation.
Zuma’s 300-strong business delegation also participated in numerous dialogues yesterday with their Chinese counterparts, resulting in the signing of over a dozen cooperation agreements in the areas of energy, mining, finance, and telecommunications.
China and South Africa represent the largest economies on their respective continents and have grown to become important trade partners over the years. Xinhua reports that China is now South Africa’s largest trading partner and South Africa is now China’s second largest trade partner. Bilateral trade between the two rose 56.1 percent to US$10.81 during the first half of the year, when compared with the first half of 2009.
