Againstthewind

Chinese investment in South Africa is providing jobs and prospects for locals despite the economic downturn

Errend Magaena walks down the assembling lines checking if everything works properly. This is an important part of his daily work.

Magaena is a first-level supervisor at the Beijing Automobile Works (BAW) South Africa, a joint venture of Chinese vehicle manufacturer BAW and South Africa’s Industrial Development Corp. (IDC), located in Springs, a small town east of Johannesburg.

The young man used to do maintenance work in a local school before being recruited as a maintenance and cleaning employee in the company. He was transferred to the production line after receiving training and then got promoted to his present position.

Magaena’s story is part of the economic and trade cooperation growth experienced between China and Africa in recent years. South Africa, as a gateway to Africa, and the most developed economy on the continent, has become an important destination for Chinese companies’ going-global strategy.

By the end of 2015, Chinese investment in South Africa had reached an accumulated total of $13 billion, and the number of Chinese companies investing in South Africa had reached 300, according to a report issued at the end of last year on the development of Chinese enterprises in South Africa by the China Economic and Trade Association, a non-governmental organization based in Johannesburg, with 120 corporate members, mainly Chinese companies operating in South Africa.

These Chinese companies employ a total of 26,000 people, of which 24,000 are locals, accounting for 91.56 percent of the total.

Chinese companies have continued to invest and maintain production and jobs despite the South African economy remaining sluggish, according to the report. industries.

According to Gao Desheng, Senior Executive Vice President of Bank of China (BOC) Johannesburg and one of the authors of the report, household appliances manufacturers Hisense and Skyworth, information and communications technology solutions providers Huawei and ZTE, BOC Johannesburg and China Construction Bank (CCB) Johannesburg have all set good examples in creating jobs.

Entering South Africa in 1996, Hisense South Africa launched its 25.4-million-rand ($1.88-million) stateof-the-art consumer electronics and home appliance manufacturing facility in Cape Town in June 2013, creating more than 700 direct jobs and more than 3,000 indirect jobs in the local communities since then.

The company offers training to local citizens who have no previous technological background and related experience, to help them learn skills and gain job opportunities.

Another big employer is the PMC project co-funded by Hebei Iron and Steel Group Consortium and South African IDC, with a total investment of $668 million. A total of 88.86 percent of its staff are local people, with 4,359 local workers on its payroll.

Gao said many locals now entered the managerial levels of Chinese companies, playing more active roles in development, research, marketing and sales.