Foreign and Military Affairs

Chinese, South African presidents discuss bilateral ties

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-16 00:20
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BRASILIA: Chinese President Hu Jintao met here Thursday with South African President Jacob Zuma to exchange views on further development of relations between their two countries.

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Hu met Zuma on the sidelines of a summit of four BRIC nations, or Brazil, Russia, India and China. Zuma is in Brasilia for a meeting of Brazil, India and South Africa.

Relations between China and South Africa have developed steadily in recent years with frequent visits, stronger political trust, enhanced economic cooperation and more solid public foundation.

China has become South Africa's biggest trade partner and exporter as bilateral trade hit a historic high of more than 16 billion US dollars in 2009, which was over 10 times than that in 1998 when the two countries forged diplomatic ties.

Of African nations, South Africa draws the biggest number of Chinese tourists and students who pursued higher education in the country at the the southern tip of Africa.

The two countries has generally maintained a trade balance as China exported machinery and durable goods to South Africa, which shipped a great amount of minerals, diamond, grape wine and crafts to China.

By the end of 2009, South Africa's investment in China totaled 546 million dollars while China's investment in South Africa amounted to 950 million dollars.

China's investment has expanded from the traditional textile, garment and other industries to energy, mining, machinery, household electrical appliances and construction materials.