From spicy sauces to premium cosmetics, South Africa is presenting a diverse and flavorful range of products at the fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha City, central China's Hunan Province.
Zanele Carol Sanni, Chief Director of Export Promotion and Marketing at the Department of Trade and Industry, said South Africa is expanding its trade offerings and inviting Chinese consumers to explore the full spectrum of its products.
"You see a number of consumers who are interested in our products, and you see that throughout the many countries, there's a lot of interest in what African suppliers actually have to show to the Chinese consumer. So it's very exciting to be here. We are actually excited about everything that we have brought here. The products that we have range from the basic commodities, including some of our nuts such as luxury nuts that the Chinese like to have, such as macadamia nuts. We've gone up a notch because we want to diversify our trade with China. So we even have products like cosmetics, and we've seen that there's a lot of interest," said Sanni.
Sanni said that South Africa has got more than minerals and the country wants to showcase the diversity of its industrial base by offering more products.
"It's really to showcase what we have as a country, the diversity of our industrial base, and really to experience it for yourself, because we believe that 'the proof is in the pudding.' I know that's an English saying, but come and see, so you can see the diversity of what we have," said Sanni.
The expo had its curtain lifted at the Changsha International Convention and Exhibition Center on Thursday, and remains open to the general public from June 13 to 15.
Nearly 4,700 Chinese and African companies, along with over 30,000 participants, are set to attend the four-day event themed "China and Africa: Together Toward Modernization."
Organizers have reported that the value of preliminarily agreed-upon cooperation projects exceeds 11 billion U.S. dollars.
S Africa highlights trade diversity at 4th China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo
As the diplomatic engagement between the United States and Iran continues despite a faltering ceasefire, a former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said that Iran is prepared to use military power to break the U.S. maritime blockade should the negotiations collapse or run on too long.
Mohsen Rezaee, who also currently serves as a member of the Iranian Expediency Discernment Council, struck a confident tone about Iran's current trajectory in an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Tehran on Wednesday.
He said the country has withstood over two decades of crippling sanctions and continued to move forward.
"We have been under sanctions for more than 20 years. The number of sanctions likely exceeds 2,000, targeting individuals, enterprises, corporations, ships, insurance companies, and even foreign countries that interacted with us. However, we have managed to find solutions to neutralize these sanctions, and we will continue to do so moving forward," he said.
He said Iran aims to ease the sanctions burden through talks with the U.S., although at the same time, he said, Iran is ready to shift to a military response if the path to a peaceful resolution closes.
"Furthermore, we will compel the U.S. to lift these sanctions. We will force the U.S. to end the maritime blockade -- either through negotiations or, should they resist, through direct action and we will attack U.S. warships. Therefore, despite all the pressures, the future of our economy is bright and promising, while the future of the US economy is bleak," he said.
While any new war against Iran would be a dead end, the best way out for the U.S. is to continue talks, according to the senior official.
"We have prepared ourselves so that if the maritime blockade continues beyond a certain timeframe, we will launch an attack and break the blockade. The Americans have no choice but to negotiate. Continuing this war is a journey into a very dark tunnel for the United States. The more America chooses to fight, the deeper it enters a tunnel with no end. Yet for us, the path is perfectly clear. America is moving toward us in the dark, while we are monitoring their every move," he said.
Former IRGC chief says Iran ready to break U.S. naval blockade by force if talks fail
