CAPE TOWN, Sept. 3 -- South Africa is committed to building, developing and strengthening relations with China on the basis of shared principles of friendship and mutual trust, the government said on Wednesday.

The government made the statement as International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane arrived in Beijing to co-chair the first meeting of the South Africa-China Inter- Ministerial Joint Working Group on Cooperation scheduled for September 3-4.

The meeting was line with the "Terms of Reference of the South Africa-China Inter-Ministerial Joint Working Group on Cooperation", which were signed during the state visit to South Africa by Chinese President Xi Jinping in March 2013.

The objectives of the Joint Working Group on Cooperation are to monitor the implementation of cooperative projects, manage and solve challenges which may arise during the implementation of such projects and further elevate bilateral economic relations through the deepening of practical cooperation, the SA Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said.

Furthermore, the objectives of the Joint Working Group on Cooperation are:

-- To achieve a more equitable trade balance, encouraging trade in manufactured value-added products, increased inward-bound trade and investment missions;

-- To finalise the working group on trade statistics;

-- To increase investment in South Africa's manufacturing industry;

-- To promote value-adding and beneficiation activities in close proximity to the source of raw materials;

-- To cooperate and provide mutually beneficial technical support in the areas of the green economy, skills development and industrial financing; and

-- To pursue opportunities to cooperate in infrastructure construction projects such as roads, railways, ports, power generation, airports and housing.

South Africa-China bilateral relations have enjoyed phenomenal progress in the space of fifteen years and have grown from a Partnership to a Strategic Partnership and subsequently to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

"The overall aim of South Africa's approach is to use this mechanism to address inequality, poverty and unemployment, through enhancing our bilateral economic relations," DIRCO spokesperson Clayson Monyela said.