Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ ａｎｄ Ｃｏｏｐｅｒａｔｉｏｎ Ｂｅｔｗｅｅｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ，Ｓｏｕｔｈ Ａｆｒｉｃａ Ａｓ Ｗｅｌｌ Ａｓ Ａｆｒｉｃａ ａｔ Ｌａｒｇｅ

The friendship between the peoples of Africa and China dates back to ancient times when communication was still a major challenge. Nevertheless， Africa and China started to communicate and engage in trade as early as 3，000 years ago. By the 6th century， China and Africa already had direct contact via sea routes.In the 15th century， Admiral Zheng He， the well-known Chinese diplomat and navigator of the time， led fleets to East Africa four times， and visited places on the African continent as far as present daySomalia and Kenya.

This proves that the contact between Chinese and Africans predates the European \"discovery\" of the African continent and its people by over 100 years. Since then， China’s involvement with Africa has consistently improved and strengthened. Proof of this can be found in the continued support and assistance that Africa got from China during the early days of the independence movements of the 1960s.

In those early days China’s assistance was mostly through infrastructure projects， like financing and building the railroad linking Tanzania and Zambia. Throughout the next several decades， China provided technical expertise， doctors， scholarships， and various forms of aid. Today more than 900 Chinese doctors work in African countries.

The relations between Africa and China have been making progress over the past years and have accelerated through the platform of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum.

There had been no state or country level relations between South Africa and China prior to the 1990s， because of the support of China and the international community given to the majority of the oppressed people by the apartheid regime.

Nevertheless， the Communist Party of China (CPC) has a long history with the National Liberation Movement (NLM) in South Africa. As early as the 1950s， soon after the founding of the People’s Republic of China， the Chinese Government and the CPC began to give solidarity and support in different ways to the struggling and oppressed people in South Africa.

The Republic of South Africa established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the 1 January 1998. Since then， the bilateral relations with the PRC have been developing smoothly and have expanded substantially. The links between the two countries have remained strong and various exchanges at different levels regularly take place. China is one of the key strategic partners of South Africa.

The two countries share a common interest of safeguarding the rights of the developing world， as well as the establishment and promotion of a just and reasonable international system. The two countries also share an interest in the building of strong south-south relations. To this end the two countries have established a Bi-National Commission (BNC) which coordinates and regulates all the bilateral and multilateral exchanges to the mutual benefit of the two countries.

South Africa shares many of the same challenges and objectives that China is facing as a developing country and therefore much opportunity exists for closer cooperation on issues such as unemployment and poverty alleviation， the fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic and other infectious diseases， as well as international crime syndicates.

The people-to-people exchanges as well as a number of high level visits taking place between South Africa and China provides depth to the bilateral relationship. Cooperation has been fruitful in the fields of politics， trade， economy， culture， education and technology. Consultation and cooperation in international affairs has helped to shape and enrich the strategic partnership between the two countries.

South Africa is China’s biggest trading partner in Africa， accounting for 20.8% of the total volume of China-Africa trade， while China was South Africa’s 5th largest export market and second largest import market in 2004 in the world. The complementary nature of the two economies provides the impetus for the growth of trade.

The Chinese tourists who visited South Africa in the same year amounted to 12，000. However， in the first half of 2005， almost 20，000 tourists from China had visited South Africa and had been to the various famous travel and leisure destination spots that South Africa offers. This reflected an increasing demand of tourist products by the Chinese tourists to South Africa. In 2003， China signed an agreement with South Africa， granting the latter an Approved Destination Status (ADS). This agreement saw South Africa becoming one of the favourite tourist destinations among the Chinese tourists. Due to the fact that South Africa and China are the two fastest growing economies in their respective continents， both governments share a mutual interest in increasing tourism and other links. South Africa therefore， as a tourist destination， has a natural appeal to those Chinese tourists who are looking to travel beyond the familiar Asian destination or European destinations for that matter.

Since South Africa opened its representation mission officially in China in 1997， a process was then initiated to gain access for agriculture products especially animals and animal products and plants products. To this end a number of protocols and agreements were signed from then， by both countries.

In conclusion， the people and government of South Africa look forward to receiving His Excellency Mr. Wen Jiabao， the Premier of the People’s Republic of China， to its shores. This visit will further consolidate the excellent bilateral relations that exist between the two countries. It will further lay a solid foundation for a fruitful Forum for China-Africa Cooperation Summit to be held in Beijing in November. This Summit will further give impetus to South-South cooperation. It is through this kind of cooperation that the developing countries will manage to avoid marginalization during this period of globalization.

(Abridged due to limited space)

The author is South African ambassador to China.