Chinese President Meets With South African President

Jiang Zemin meets with South African President Thabo Mbeki

Visiting Chinese President Jiang Zemin met with South African President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday and discussed a range of regional and international issues of common concern.

Both leaders agreed that cooperation between the two countries was complementary in many fields and had great potentials for further expansion.

This, they said, called for a high-level mechanism to guide and coordinate such cooperation in various fields.

Jiang said the establishment of diplomatic ties in early 1998 paved the way for cooperation between China and South Africa. He said China and South Africa, both as developing countries, exerted great influence in the Asian and African regions respectively and shared a common goal of safeguarding the interests of developing countries and pushing for the building-up of a just and reasonable new international order.

Jiang said promoting and deepening Sino-South African cooperation conformed with the long-term and fundamental interests of both countries and would benefit world peace and development as well.

He stressed that China, which attached importance to the unique role played by South Africa in regional and international affairs, expected to develop long-term, stable and friendly cooperative ties with South Africa.

Close cooperation between the two countries, he noted, was particularly important at a time when chauvinism and power politics posed a threat to world peace and security. He lauded Mbeki's concept of "African Renaissance", saying this idea was a follow-up and development of Pan-Africanism pursued by the old generation of African leaders.

Jiang said the idea, which reflected the sense of responsibility displayed by South Africa to strive for the revival of the African continent, would contribute to peace and development in Africa.

Mbeki, extending his warm welcome to Jiang, said his visit, the first by a Chinese head of state since the establishment of diplomatic relations, was of great significance to the development of bilateral ties.

He said South Africa and China could cooperate in many fields and such cooperation was important for the development of South Africa.

Mbeki said there are no problems between South Africa and China which enjoyed good cooperation. The only challenge for the two countries, he said, was how to enhance bilateral ties to a higher level of vitality.

Cooperation between South Africa and China served as a good example for other developing countries seeking inter-state cooperation, he said.

Mbeki stressed that South Africa and China should cooperate more closely with other developing countries so as to exert positive influence on the setting up of a new international economic order.

He reiterated South African support for China to join the World Trade Organization at an earliest date possible.