IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Beijing

Envoy to visit South Africa

Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will begin an official two-day visit to South Africa on Friday. At the invitation of the government of the Republic of South Africa, Yang will visit the country as a special envoy of President Xi Jinping, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news conference on Thursday. She said China attaches great importance to developing relations with South Africa, and would like to deepen friendly cooperation with the country in various fields to push forward the China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership.