(focus on china-africa cooperation) south african ambassador to china: i want to bring two things from china to the south african people
2024-08-31
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china news service, beijing, august 30, title: south african ambassador to china: i want to bring two things from china to the south african people
author: madeline zhao jingshu sun xiang
"i want to bring back two things from china for the south african people: one is chinese culture, and the other is the diligence of the chinese people." south african ambassador to china xie shengwen said this in an exclusive interview with china news service reporters in beijing a few days ago.
xie shengwen has been the ambassador to china for more than three years and has traveled to many places including zhejiang, hubei, hunan, chongqing, guizhou, etc. in his view, the bilateral relations between south africa and china are constantly developing, the two countries have frequent exchanges at all levels, and the mutually beneficial cooperation has always maintained a high level.
on august 15, south african ambassador to china xie shengwen accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from china news service in beijing, talking about the relevant situation of south africa and africa's cooperation with china. photo by china news service reporter sun xiang
"china has good cooperative relations with african countries, including south africa." xie shengwen believes that mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit are the key characteristics of china-africa relations. there is no hegemony or power politics in china's exchanges with african countries; the cooperation between the two sides is based on equality and mutual benefit, and the people of both sides can benefit from it.
he said that through this cooperation, the two sides jointly promoted the realization of a more equitable and inclusive global governance and world economic system, and also promoted china-africa cooperation to gradually become a model of south-south cooperation.
according to statistics, as of now, china has been south africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, and south africa has been china's largest trading partner in africa for 14 consecutive years. in the first five months of 2024, bilateral trade volume reached us$23.5 billion. among them, south africa's exports to china were us$15.3 billion, an increase of nearly 14% year-on-year. south african wine, rooibos tea, aloe vera gel and other products are popular in china. xie shengwen himself has also "brought goods" for south african products in online live broadcast rooms many times. at the same time, china has also become africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years.
xie shengwen particularly pointed out that the series of new opening-up measures proposed by the third plenary session of the 20th cpc central committee have brought new opportunities to african countries. the forum on china-africa cooperation, which will hold a summit in beijing soon, is an important platform for african countries to further deepen cooperation with china.
"we are very pleased to see that china has further expanded its opening-up in the fields of high-tech, medical health, finance and so on." xie shengwen said that many south african companies, including aspen, south africa's largest pharmaceutical company, and naspers, south africa's national media group, have discovered the huge opportunities and are eager to try.
he said that through a series of mechanisms such as the forum on china-africa cooperation, infrastructure investment from china has been continuously implemented in african countries. new ports, airports, railways and highways have helped african countries connect with the outside world and better promote industrial transformation. the two sides have carried out extensive cooperation in agricultural modernization. the "green channel" for the export of african agricultural products to china has brought agricultural products from the least developed countries in africa into the chinese market, improving the living standards of the rural population in africa.
the cooperation between the two sides in the fields of science and technology and education will have a more far-reaching impact on african countries including south africa. xie shengwen said that africa has a large population and is also a "young continent". through better education and training, more african youth will have the opportunity to become globally competitive workers.
"the south african people are very interested in chinese culture. we have introduced chinese as an optional course in primary schools in south africa." xie shengwen said that more and more south africans hope to learn chinese to deepen their understanding of china and absorb china's development experience. he also hopes that the diligence of the chinese people can inspire the younger generation of south africans to receive education and empower themselves. "i hope they can understand that only through diligent study and work can they truly achieve wealth and prosperity." (end)
