Diplomats, government officials, business people, local and international media, members of the academia and politicians converged in Johannesburg for the premiere of an informative documentary titled “25 Years On” detailing the prosperous journey travelled in the South Africa-China relations.
The documentary, in three episodes, was premiered at a prestigious event hosted at Nu Metro, at Hyde Park shopping centre in Johannesburg.
The production is a collaborative effort by the Chinese state broadcaster - China Media Group in collaboration with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
Addressing the gathering, Minister of the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, Zheng Bingkai said the documentary marks the 25-year anniversary of the strong ties between China and South Africa.
“It is my great pleasure to get together with you today for the premiere of the documentary “25 Years On” in Africa, which comes at the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Africa. First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, I would like to express my warm congratulations on the premiere of the documentary,” he said.
“It (the documentary) is a gift to China and South Africa’s 25-year diplomatic relations, and a powerful note to the fruitful results of our cooperation in various fields over the past 25 years,” said Zheng.
“It shows the special bond between our two countries over the past 25 years as ‘comrades and brothers’, demonstrates the historic achievements and valuable experience in growing the bilateral relations, depicts a bright future of our closer comprehensive strategic partnership, and plays a positive role in our joint efforts to build a high-level community with a shared future.”
This year marks the 25th anniversary of China-South Africa diplomatic relations.
“Over the past 25 years, under the joint efforts of the two sides, China and South Africa have witnessed deepened political mutual trust, fruitful economic and trade cooperation, colourful people-to-people exchanges, and closer international cooperation. Our relations have become an example of China-Africa cooperation and South-South cooperation,” he said.
In August this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping toured South Africa in his fourth State Visit to Pretoria in 10 years.
“He and President [Cyril] Ramaphosa led our relations into a ‘golden era’. The two heads of State decided that China and South Africa should be strategic partners with a high degree of mutual trust, development partners making progress together, friendly partners enjoying mutual understanding, and global partners with a commitment to justice,” said Zheng.
“China is ready to work with South Africa to continue to enrich the meaning of our comprehensive strategic partnership and take our relations to a new level.”
Diplomatic relations between Pretoria and Beijing were established on January 1, 1998.
Throughout the past 25 years, the two countries have deepened their wide-ranging bilateral relations, which have since been elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and underpinned by a new 10-Year Strategic Programmes of Cooperation (2020-2029), according to the Department of International Relations.
South Africa and China enjoy vibrant economic relations, and China is by far South Africa’s largest global trading partner.
The bilateral trade grew exponentially over the years, increasing from less than R1 billion in 1998 to the current levels of more than R500 billion in 2021, despite the raging Covid-19 pandemic at the time.
South Africa is also China’s number one trading partner in Africa.
IOL