China and South Africa expand relations

South Africa and the People's Republic of China signed a series of bilateral agreements ranging from cooperation in agriculture to minerals and energy.
The agreements, signed by President Thabo Mbeki, the Premier of the People's Republic of China Wen Jiabao and 14 ministers from the two countries, will see South Africa and China working more closely on various fronts.

Speaking during the ceremony, President Mbeki said the number of agreements signed was confirmation of how crucial the two countries regarded each other.
"It underlines the importance of the strategic relationship that we have with the People's Republic of China and also underlines the extent of those relations," he said.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1998, trade between China and South Africa has grown significantly with China becoming South Africa' second largest import partner in 2005. President Mbeki said the agreements would not only see the two countries' relationship break new ground but wouldalso strengthen existing ones.
"Both governments are indeed very committed to the further strengthening, widening and deepening of all of those relationships in all of these areas in the context of the agreements that we created previously."

He expressed appreciation for China's contribution towards South Africa's skills development initiatives, saying this constituted a concrete part of the support that country "extends to us so that we can deal with our own challenges".
The signing of the cooperative agreements took place against a backdrop of mounting concern over the damage being caused by Chinese textile products to the South African textile industry with several clothing factories forced to close down and thousands of workers losing their jobs in the process.

Allaying fears that increasing trade between the two countries might have a negative impact on South Africa's economy, Premier Wen said the textile business was only a small fraction of the overall economic exchange between the two countries.
"President Mbeki and I both agree that the issue of textiles should not be allowed to compromise the overall economic trade between the two countries. China has no intention to increase its exports to other countries simply by enlarging its scale of the production of textile," he said.

However, Mr Wen said there were a number of moves being made by his country to minimize the economic damage that China's textile products in South Africa might have on domestic industries.
"At the same time China will do its best to help relevant countries, including South Africa, to enhance their competitiveness in the production of textiles," he said.

In a gala dinner held in honour of the premier, Mr Mbeki said he was pleased that the People's Republic of China had made an unequivocal commitment to assist South Africa address its serious challenges of poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment. Mr Mbeki told the premier that he was confident that the Forum would help the two countries further developtheir economic relations which should include larger volumes of investment.
"We also place high value on the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which will convene in Beijing in November. We consider the Forum an important institution that will help us further to deepen the historic and mutually beneficial relations between our continent and the People's Republic of China, including the promotion of the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)".