Chinese VP meets South Africa's president

BEIJING - Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping on Wednesday met with the visiting President of South Africa Jacob Zuma at Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing.?

Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping (R) met with the visiting President of South Africa Jacob Zuma (L)?at Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing on Wednesday. [Photo/Xinhua]

Praising the two-year old China-South Africa Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Xi said the bilateral relationship has become one of the most energetic among each other's diplomatic ties in respect that the two sides has close high-level communication, healthy trade and economic cooperation and fruitful people-to-people exchanges.

According to Xi, South Africa now has the most of Confucius Institutes on the continent, and the country also receives the most Chinese tourists and students to Africa.

Noting that China and South Africa are both developing countries while the bilateral relations bear strategic significance to China-Africa relations and South-South cooperation, Xi stressed that China will make joint efforts with South Africa to further strengthen high-level visits and party exchanges, deepen communication on national governance, optimize trade structure, expand mutual investment and consolidate the ties between the peoples of the two countries.

Meanwhile, Xi also said that China is willing to enhance international coordination and cooperation at multilateral level with South Africa with the aim of jointly improving the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The Fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is another pageant of China-Africa friendship and unity, said Xi, saying that Chinese government is expected to announce at the conference a series of new cooperative programs to be undertaken and expressing the belief that the forum will bring new opportunities for the development of China-Africa relations. ?

Xi noted that China will make joint commitment with South Africa to promote China-Africa reciprocal cooperation and a new-type of China-Africa strategic partnership.

Zuma is in Beijing from Wednesday to Friday, and will attend the opening ceremony of the fifth Ministerial Meeting of FOCAC on Thursday.

During the meeting, Zuma spoke highly of the relationship between the two countries and between the Communist Party of China and the African National Congress of South Africa.

Currently, South Africa and Africa as a whole are facing opportunities and challenges of development, Zuma said, South Africa is committed to strengthening friendly cooperation with China in various fields including infrastructure construction under the framework of strategic partnership.