South Africa sees ties with China mutually beneficial: deputy president

South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile has reaffirmed his country's commitment to strengthening cooperation with China, regarding China's zero-tariff policy for African countries as a boost to bilateral trade.

In an interview with China Media Group (CMG) on the sidelines of the fourth China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing in June, Mashatile said South Africa views its partnership with China as one built on mutual respect, practical cooperation and shared development, with tangible benefits for African countries.

"We know that some in the West don't like the relationship we have with China or that China has with the African countries. So there'll always be some criticism and negativity. But we see the positives. We have not seen the negatives that they are talking about. We know that the Chinese companies that are locating in the African continent, bring in with them skills, they are transferring skills. So that approach to me is very important. I don't see any negativity. And lastly, of course, China always treats us with respect. For us, when China looks at us as South Africa on the continent, they don't see commodities, they see people. So they treat us with respect and we appreciate that. That's why we are looking more and more into working with China going forward and is because of this positive attitude," said Mashatile.

China has officially remained Africa's largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years. On May 1 this year, China implemented an expanded zero-tariff treatment on imports from all 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations.

Commenting on China's zero-tariff policy for African countries, the deputy president said the measure has created new opportunities for South African exports while encouraging deeper economic cooperation between the two countries.

"So it's good, we welcome that already some of us citrus products coming to China are already enjoying duty free access because of this zero rating. We're quite grateful for what China has done and we will work with them to make sure that we export more products to China as they also will be sending many of their companies to come and produce goods in South Africa," he said.

South Africa sees ties with China mutually beneficial: deputy president

South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile has highlighted the strong and growing partnership between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG), Mashatile, who also serves as the ANC's Deputy President, shared details of his recent engagements with Chinese counterparts when asked about how the two parties could further strengthen exchanges in governance experience.

"I visited Communist Party of China (CPC), your international division (on June 23), and we had a good meeting there on how we can strengthen our relationship. And one of the things we agreed on is there must be a regular visit between the African National Congress (ANC) and the CPC, those exchanges between the two parties, looking at on what we can work together on," he said.

Mashatile emphasized the importance of political education and institutional capacity-building in deepening bilateral ties.

"China has a very advanced political education school where we will continue to send our people, but we have built our own political school as well. And our head of the political school visited China not long ago to see what you are doing, to look at your curricula. China also supported the establishment of the Julius Nyerere (Leadership) School in Africa that would benefit many African countries, not only South Africa. When the parties work together, the governments work together," he said.

South African deputy president highlights growing ANC-CPC partnership