Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday announced the expansion of bilateral relations into a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership for a new era.
Ramaphosa is in China for an official visit to China and to attend the 2024 summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which will run from Wednesday to Friday.
During the meeting with Ramaphosa, Xi said that strengthening solidarity and cooperation between China and South Africa is in line with the shared aspirations of the two peoples and the historical process of development of the Global South.
The Chinese president urged the two countries to advance bilateral relations with a high level of strategic mutual trust and promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, expand cooperation in the fields of digital economy, artificial intelligence and new energy. He emphasized on joint efforts to strengthen. Exchanges and cooperation in human resource development.
Xi said that China will open its doors wider to African countries, adding that the country is willing to create new momentum for cooperation with South Africa and other African countries and promote the high-quality development of China-Africa cooperation. ready for
Xi said that the more complex the international situation becomes, the more the countries of the Global South must uphold independence, strengthen unity and cooperation, and jointly safeguard international justice and fairness.
Ramaphosa said South Africa will remain a reliable and trustworthy friend of China.
Seizing the opportunity to establish a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era, South Africa will expand and deepen practical cooperation with China in areas such as economy, trade, investment, infrastructure, new energy and poverty reduction. will do The President said it would also promote people-to-people exchanges and educational and cultural cooperation with China.
Ramaphosa noted that cooperation under the FOCAC framework has brought massive benefits to African countries, including South Africa.
South Africa supports the Six-Party Agreement on a Political Settlement of the Ukraine Problem jointly proposed by China and Brazil, he added, adding that the country will continue to engage with China under the BRICS, G20 and other multilateral frameworks. And will continue to promote cooperation.
After the meeting, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation documents in areas such as the application of the BeiDou navigation satellite system. The two sides also issued a joint statement on their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era.
Before the meeting, Xi held a reception for Ramaphosa at the Great Hall of the People.
