Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe concluded his official visit to the People’s Republic of China (PRC)

Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe today, 30 September 2011, concluded a successful official visit to the People’s Republic of China.

During the visit, Deputy President Motlanthe and Vice President Xi Jinping led high level discussions on practical steps required to further strengthen and consolidate political and economic relations between the two countries.

South Africa and the People’s Republic of China in 2010 signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which took relations between the two countries to a higher level aimed at achieving shared sustained economic growth and promoting greater co-operation on multilateral issues.

To achieve shared sustainable economic growth, the two countries will work together to promote balanced and stable trade and investment between them.  The government of China undertook to facilitate more imports from South Africa, especially high value added products.

South Africa has identified the following high value added products which it wishes to export to China:

• Agro-processing – Wines, Cereals, Canned Fruit and Bovine meat;
• Chemicals – Butanol;
• Plastics – Polypropylene;
• Steel – Stainless steel;
• Aluminium – Alloys and Coils;
• Automotive – Tooling products, Shock absorbers and Filters;
• Capital equipment – Mining safety equipment; 
• Manufacturing – Industrial pumps (mining, agricultural as well as fuel pipelines)
• Electro-technical – Power transmission related products
• Paper and Pulp – Wood pulp and Paper board

The government of China undertook to facilitate the entry of these products to the vast Chinese market in keeping with the commitment made in terms of the partnership agreement.

The South African delegation announced the intention of the South African Airways (SAA) to operate direct flights between Johannesburg and Beijing.  In this regard, the two governments will work together expeditiously to resolve all outstanding issues including the allocation of more favourable landing and take-off time slots to the SAA. 

The two governments agreed to facilitate investment by both public and private sectors from their respective countries in the areas of infrastructure development, mining, energy, transport and information and communications technology.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Vice President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of the following agreements:

• Memorandum of Understanding on Co-operation in the field of geology and mineral resources; and
• Financial Co-operation agreement between the Development Bank of South Africa and the Chinese Development Bank.

China and South Africa also agreed to explore trilateral co-operation on strategic economic infrastructure projects in the transport and energy sectors on the African continent. 

On human resources development China will increase investment on vocational training centres in South Africa and it would increase scholarship allocation for South African students to study in China. 
   
On the strengthening of bi-lateral and multilateral co-operation the two countries undertook to exchange more frequent visits and share views on issues concerning the UN, WTO, G20 and BRICS.

Deputy President Motlanthe concluded his deliberations with a courtesy visit to the President of the People’s Republic of China, Hu Jintao and he is expected to arrive in South Africa on Saturday, 01 October 2011.

Enquiries:  Spokesperson to the Deputy President, Mr. Thabo Masebe on +2782 410 8087

Issued by:
The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa
Union Buildings
Pretoria