China-sa partnership

continues to expand rapidly, offering strong financial support for deepening bilateral mutually beneficial partnerships. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank (CCB), Bank of China (BOC), the China Development Bank (CDB), and other Chinese financial institutions have in total committed about $32.1bn of commercial loans to SA businesses, covering a wide range of sectors including railway, mining, telecommunication, and electricity. In 2017, BOC launched the offshore Rmb-denominated bond, the Rainbow Bond, in SA, marking the issuance of the first Rmb-denominated bond on the African continent. The RMB has already been included as a reserve currency for the SA government.

China Union Pay, Alipay and other Chinese payment platforms are gaining increasing popularity across SA.

China-sa people-to-people exchange continues to prosper, establishing a new example for China-africa and South-south Cooperation. Our two countries have successfully held the Year of China in SA and the Year of SA in China. Being the first of its kind between China and an African country, the China-sa high level people-topeople exchange mechanism has ushered in a strong wave of Chinasa and China-africa people-topeople exchange. SA ranks top of Africa in terms of the number of friendly cities established and the number of Chinese overseas population, international students, Confucius Institutes and Classrooms hosted. SA is also an important destination for Chinese tourists in Africa.

As major developing powers and emerging markets, China and SA share common interest and enjoy similar views and positions in major regional and international issues. Working together, China and SA have made tremendous contribution to the reform of the global governance regime and the common interest of all developing countries.

As the number one power in Africa, SA boasts an outstanding location, rich resources, and superb foundation and condition for development.

With its comprehensive infrastructure, well-regulated market, and sound legal system, SA is the most mature country for deepening China-africa’s mutually beneficial co-operation and connecting the Belt & Road initiative to Africa.

With China’s comparative strength in capital, technology, market, enterprises, experts, and successful development experience, China and SA complement each other and need each other with their respective strengths and enjoy historic opportunities to combine development strategies for a win-win co-operation.

This year marks an important year for China-sa relations.

The Chinese President Xi Jinping and his SA counterpart President Cyril Ramaphosa will soon exchange visits during the Brics Summit in Johannesburg and the Focac Summit in Beijing. The two presidents will map out a new blueprint and open a new chapter for China-sa and China-africa cooperation. China is willing to join efforts with SA to deepen and expand bilateral co-operation in 10 priority areas including manufacturing and processing; agriculture; tourism; maritime economy; digital economy; infrastructure development; human resources development; science & technology; research & innovation; finance; and people-to-people exchange.

We will expand two-way trade and investment, and support SA to become a locomotive and production base for African industrialisation and modernisation. We will support SA to become a pilot demonstration country for connecting the Belt & Road initiative with Africa. We are confident that together, we will make China-sa comprehensive strategic partnership more productive and beneficial for our two countries.