S. Africa Attaches Great Importance to Mbeki's China Visit: Official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, December 08, 2001

S. Africa Attaches Great Importance to Mbeki's China Visit: Official

South African President Thabo Mbeki's upcoming state visit to China is of extreme political and economical importance, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said in Pretoria recently.

South African President Thabo Mbeki's upcoming state visit to China is of extreme political and economical importance, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said in Pretoria recently.

At the invitation of Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Mbeki is to visit China from December 9 to 12 in the company of Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin.

During the visit, Jiang and Mbeki will set up a committee on bilateral relations and the two will preside over the first meeting of the committee.

Pahad expressed the belief that President Mbeki's forthcoming China visit will further promote political and economic relations between the two countries.

He spoke highly of China's rapid economic development, saying that China is the seventh largest economy in the world and it is expected to be one of the largest by the middle of the next decade.

China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is indicative of its acceptance into the world economy, he said.

Noting that South Africa established diplomatic ties with China in 1998, Pahad said the relationship between the two countries has grown considerably.

China is South Africa's 10th most important trading partner, he said. Great potentials, both economic and political, remain to be tapped.

"We have not fully explored the seventh most important economy in the world," he said.

China rose to South Africa's 10th most important trade partner in 2000 from the 20th place in 1999. South Africa's trade with the Chinese Mainland reached 6.8 billion rand (680 million U.S. dollars) in 2000 and its trade with Hongkong 3.1 billion rand (310 million dollars).

Pahad said: "We hope the president's visit will provide impetus for the private sector to explore opportunities" and his visit will "also consolidate our political relations."

The world has changed considerably after the September 11 attacks in the United States, and China has an important role to play as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, he said.

South African President to Visit China