BRI a 'game changer' for trade, says South African diplomat

China's Belt and Road Initiative is a "game changer" and "has increased the efficiency of global trade", according to a senior South African diplomat in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

By developing all its infrastructure corridors, the initiative "has really opened a new market. The economic contribution of the BRI, I think is truly phenomenal," said Charles Manuel, the minister counselor of economics at the South African Embassy to China.

A pivotal moment of cooperation between Beijing and Johannesburg came in 2014 when Transnet, South Africa's national freight and logistics group, placed a $4.7 billion order for 1,064 new locomotives with four international manufacturers, including two from China. The Chinese companies later merged to become CRRC Corp, a State-owned railway behemoth and bullet-train maker. According to the tender, China will provide 232 diesel locomotives and 359 electric locomotives.