South Africa is looking for help from China to help it move up the value chain and quicken its industrialization, says Rob Davies, minister of trade and industry of South Africa.
Xi met with South African President Jacob Zuma as one of the sideline events of the BRICS summit, due to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday in Fortaleza and Brasilia of Brazil, respectively. The Chinese president said during his South Africa tour last year, the two countries agreed to take their relations as a strategic supporting point and a priority of each other's overall foreign policy.
Voicing his gratitude for China's support to South Africa, Zuma said South Africa understands and respects China's core interests and major concerns, and he hopes to boost the bilateral strategic partnership and speed up his country's development. Zuma said he believes his China visit will lead the bilateral relationship toward a new height.
However, South Africa wants more investment from China to boost its industries and manufacturing capacity and to reduce the country's heavy reliance on the mining sector, said Yang Lihua, an expert on African studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Yang said that both sides have a great potential for cooperation as South Africa is devoted to pushing forward industrialization and China is undergoing industrial reconstruction. A stronger relationship will also encourage closer cooperation between China and the rest of Africa, she added.
