On 12 June, Ambassador Wu Peng contributed an op-ed to International Business Daily entitled “Working Together to Forge a New Chapter in China-South Africa Friendship and Cooperation”. The full text is translated as follows:

As the largest economic and trade cooperation platform under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) has entered its fourth edition. Under the theme "China and Africa: Together Toward Modernization", the event units efforts from China and Africa to move forward with the ten partnership actions, and injects new impetus into the modernisation drive of China and Africa. South Africa holds a leading position in Africa in terms of overall national strength; It’s an important engine driving Africa's modernisation. China-South Africa cooperation is at the forefront of China-Africa cooperation, and is essential for guiding it toward all-round improvement.

Head-of-state diplomacy opens a new chapter. China and South Africa enjoy a special bond of “comrades plus brothers”. Since the last Expo, the bilateral relations have developed by leaps and bounds. In August 2023, President Xi Jinping was invited to South Africa for a state visit and attended the 15th BRICS Summit, and the two heads of state jointly ushered the bilateral relations into a “golden era”. In September 2024, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the FOCAC Beijing Summit and paid a state visit to China. The two presidents announced the elevation of the China-South Africa relationship to an all-round strategic cooperative partnership in the new era, injecting new meaning into the relationship.

Economic and trade cooperation drives new momentum. China has been South Africa's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years, and South Africa has been China's largest trading partner in Africa for 15 consecutive years. In 2024, our bilateral trade accounted for nearly 20 per cent of the total China-Africa trade. In recent years, South African products such as wine, rooibos tea, aloe gel and avocados have made their way into the Chinese market, making it possible for more and more Chinese consumers to get a taste of South Africa. More than 200 Chinese enterprises have invested in South Africa, expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in infrastructure, automobile making, mineral processing, new energy, digital economy and other fields.

People-to-people exchanges inject new vitality. China and South Africa have established a mechanism for high-level people-to-people exchanges. This is the first and only platform for people-to-people cooperation between China and African countries. South Africa hosts the largest number of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in Africa, and has included mandarin into its national education system. Among the sub-Saharan African countries, South Africa receives the largest number of Chinese tourists and has the most sister provinces and cities with China. South Africa has also included Chinese tourists in its Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS). People-to-people exchanges between the two countries are further reinforcing the deep-rooted friendship shared across generations.

In today's world, multiple challenges and crises are intertwined, and the development gap continues to widen. In pursuing the “America First” policy, the U.S. engages in unilateral bullying and tariff abuse, undermining the stability of the global economic order and hindering the recovery of the world economy. It serves the common interests of China, South Africa and other African countries to oppose protectionism, resist unilateral bullying and uphold international fairness and justice. China will continue to hold high the banner of multilateralism, advance high-level opening up, expand win-win cooperation, and use Chinese-style modernisation and high-quality development to provide new opportunities for Africa and stability for the world .

South Africa holds the rotating presidency of the G20 this year. China will support South Africa in assuming its presidency, and will work with it to make full use of the G20 as a major platform for global economic cooperation, to resolve trade differences through equal, respectful and mutually beneficial consultations, and to safeguard the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core.

The Expo witnesses China's determination in comprehensively deepening reform and opening up, and shows the strong momentum of China's economy. It has become an important window for China to share with Africa the vast opportunities of Chinese-style modernisation. I sincerely hope that through this Expo, various sectors from China, South Africa and other African countries will expand economic and trade cooperation, align industries, and foster new growth drivers, jointly creating an open and win-win model of collaboration in pursuit of modernization.

I wish the 4th CAETE a complete success!