The first ship of feed corn that China imported from South Africa docked at Majong Port in Guangdong Province on May 4. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

Edited by WANG Xiaoxia

Chinese President Xi Jinping held phone talks with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa on June 9, pledging to upgrade bilateral relations, build a high-level China-South Africa community with a shared future, jointly practice genuine multilateralism, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and make the international order more just and equitable.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Africa. Over the past 25 years, the two countries have deepened their wide-ranging bilateral relations, yielding fruitful results in high-level interactions, economic cooperation, as well as people-to-people exchanges.

The bilateral relationship has been elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and underpinned by a new 10-Year Strategic Programmes of Cooperation (2020-2029). Beyond bilateral relations, as two important developing countries in the world, China and South Africa adhere to multilateralism and share broad consensus.

Under the framework of the UN, G20, BRICS and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the two countries safeguard the rights and interests of developing countries, and coordinate all parties to jointly promote inclusive growth and a more just and reasonable international order.

Meanwhile, the two countries enjoy vibrant economic relations, and China has been South Africa's largest global trading partner for 14 consecutive years. Data from General Administration of Customs of China show that the total bilateral trade reached about 56.74 billion USD in 2022.

Active trade exchanges have driven more Chinese enterprises to invest in South Africa. According to the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, Chinese enterprises had invested more than 25 billion USD in South Africa by the end of 2021, creating more than 400,000 local jobs.

In addition, China and South Africa have established a high-level people-to-people exchange mechanism that covers education, culture, health, youth, women and think tanks among others. South Africa is also the sub-Saharan African country that attracts the most Chinese tourists and has established the most sister provinces and cities with China.