6th June 2023 – (Beijing) On Tuesday, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang spoke over the phone with South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor, during which the two sides vowed to further deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
Qin emphasized that China always sees and develops its relationship with South Africa from a strategic perspective. He also stated that China will firmly support South Africa in exploring a modernization path suited to its national conditions, developing its economy, and improving people’s livelihood. The Chinese side is ready to work with South Africa to turn high-level political mutual trust into concrete actions to push for continuous development of China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership.
South Africa is the chair of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) for 2023. Qin expressed his appreciation for South Africa’s great effort and productive work for BRICS cooperation. China is willing to continue to fully cooperate with the current BRICS chair, support South Africa in successfully hosting the 15th BRICS Summit, and work with South Africa to strengthen solidarity and cooperation among BRICS countries as well as jointly safeguard the interests of developing countries.
Pandor said that South Africa attaches great importance to the development of relations with China and firmly adheres to the one-China policy. The South African side is ready to join hands with China to deepen practical cooperation in various fields, so as to take the South Africa-China comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level. Pandor also expressed her country’s willingness to strengthen coordination with China within BRICS and other multilateral frameworks.
The BRICS bloc represents emerging markets and developing economies. South Africa assumed the BRICS presidency on 1st January, 2023, taking over from China. The partnership between China and South Africa has grown stronger in recent years, with cooperation in various fields such as trade, investment, and infrastructure. The two countries also share similar views on global issues, such as the need for multilateralism and the importance of developing countries having a greater say in global affairs.