Survey by Business Day on China----page 1
The following articles appeared in
Business Day on October 1st, 2004.
China
National Day which is celebrated today (October 1) marks the
55th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of
China in 1949.
It is also more than six years
since China and SA established diplomatic relations in
January 1998 - in which period China's phenomenal economic
growth has seen it emerge as SA's fifth-largest global
trading partner and South Africa becomes Chinas most
important trading partner on the African continent.
Trade between China and SA accounts for
one-fifth of that between China and the entire African
continent.
The past six years have been
notable for a strengthening of bilateral relations between
the two countries which have been characterised by an
ongoing series of exchanges and agreements in the political,
economic, technological, cultural and educational spheres,
among others.
Against
this backdrop, a series of high-level visits between China
and SA this year have given further momentum to relations
and levels of cooperation between the two countries and have
set the platform for further groundbreaking
initiatives.
At the invitation of SA's Deputy
President Jacob Zuma, Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong
paid an official visit to SA in June this year. In the
process, he became the most senior Chinese state leader to
visit SA since the new Chinese government was formed in
March 2003.
During this visit, Zeng and Zuma
co-chaired the Second Plenary Session of the China-SA
Bi-National Commission. The Chinese Vice-President also paid
courtesy calls on President Thabo Mbeki, former President
Nelson Mandela, Speaker of the SA Parliament Baleka Mbete
and NCOP chairperson Joyce Kgoali. Zeng also delivered a
keynote speech at the seminar on China-SA Trade and Economic
Cooperation.
The relevant ministries or
departments of the two governments signed agreements or
cooperation documents on education, human resources
development, trade in agricultural products and in
other related areas.
The Shenhua
Consortium of China also signed a letter of intent on coal
liquefaction cooperation with Sasol. The two countries also
agreed to establish a China-SA strategic
partnership based on the principles of equality, mutual
benefit and common development. This agreement also aims to
further enhance cooperation in the fields of trade, energy,
mining, natural and human resources development and culture,
as well as to increase mutual coordination and negotiations
in international affairs, in order to promote China-Africa,
Asia-Africa and South-South cooperation.
Zuma
also accepted the Chinese vice-president's invitation and
just wraped up his visit to China at the end of last
month.
Chinese state leaders visiting SA this
year have included the Vice Chairman of the standing
committee of the National People's Congress, Ismail Amed,
who attended SA's 10 Years of Democracy celebrations as well
as President Mbeki's inauguration
ceremony.
Other visitors included Chinese State
Councillor Chen Zhili who launched the
"Chinese cultural tour of Africa" in SA and
General Guo Boxiong, Vice Chairman of the Central Military
Commission of China.
In turn, SA's Public
Works minister Stella Sigcau undertook a policy study tour
in China in May, and National Public Protector Adv. Laurence
Mushwana paid an official visit to China in August. And in
September, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, South African Minister
of Minerals and Energy as well as Dr. Zola Skweyiya,
Minister of Social Development both visited China while
attending respective international
seminars.
According to the Political Counsellor
of the Chinese embassy in Pretoria Ms. Wang Ke, "These
active political interactions have greatly deepened the
mutual understanding between China and SA and have injected
further impetus into the good bilateral relations enjoyed by
the two countries - as well as consolidating mutual
beneficial cooperation in all
areas."
Trade and
Economic Cooperation Boosted
According to
Chinese Customs statistics, the volume of bilateral trade
between China and SA has maintained an annual growth of 29%
since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1998.
In 2003, bilateral trade stood at 3.87 billion
USD, 2.5 times larger than the 1998 figure. Exports from SA
to China increased to USD 1.84 billion in 2003, compared
with USD 690 million in 1998, creating approx 270,000 job
opportunities.
By the end of the first half of
2004, the volume of China-SA trade volume had grown
substantially to USD 2.75 billion, a 64% increase over the
same period last year.
The balance of this
bilateral trade favoured SA, which exported goods
worth USD 1.5 billion to China, representing a 85.4%
increase over the same period last year.
Chinese exports to SA accounted for USD 1.23
billion, a 44.5% increase over the first six months of 2003.
According to Ling Guiru, Economic and Trade
Counsellor in the Chinese Embassy in SA, it is estimated
that the total trade volume for 2004 may well surpass USD
5-bn, with SA's exports to China totalling more than USD 2.5
bn.
China's imports from SA are primarily
centred on iron and steel, mineral products and non-ferrous
metal, among others. For its part, China's exports to SA are
focused on textiles, clothing as well as electric
and electronics goods.
Two-way investment
between China and SA has also been increasing
steadily in recent years. Ling notes that SA is
regarded as one of the most attractive investment
destinations for Chinese enterprises.
By March
2004, 111 Chinese investors had registered with China's
Ministry of Commerce to invest in SA, representing
a total investment of USD 210 million.
He
points out that an increasing number of Chinese
manufacturers are operating in SA, contributing
substantially to local employment. During the same period,
SA companies have invested USD 370 million in China in such
areas as brewery plants, port operations, metallurgy and
environmental protection.
Major SA companies
such as SAB Miller, Kumba Resources, Anglo-American, BHP
Billiton and MIH have all established a presence in China
and are continuing to benefit from the enormous potential
offered by the Chinese market, Ling says.
China
believes that exploitation of resources holds great
potential for mutual beneficial cooperation between the two
countries. The Chrome exploitation project - an investment
by the China Iron & Steel Industry & Trade
Corporation in Limpopo Province - is already in operation.
In addition, the Jiuquan Iron & Steel Group is
finalising procedures to invest in another chrome
exploitation project in North West Province.
And China's Shenhua Group Corporation has
started negotiations with Sasol to set up two coal-to-fuel
projects in China, making use of Sasol's
technology.
Ling adds that given the SA
government's stated recognition of China's Market Economy
Status and the decision by the Southern African Customs
Union (SACU) to commence Free Trade Agreement negotiations
with China this year, "China-SA trade and economic
cooperation will surely receive a big boost, heralding an
even brighter future."
(3)
People to People Contacts
Enhanced
To coincide with SA's ten years
of freedom celebrations, "Bravo, ChinAfrica: Chinese
Cultural Tour of Africa" - the largest and most
comprehensive Chinese art festival to be held on the African
continent - made its debut in SA in July this year.
Three Chinese performing art
troupes, the Yunnan Acrobatic Troupe, Hunan Song and Dance
Ensemble and Shangdong Martial Art Troupe, presented their
respective shows in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town and
Durban.
In addition, an exhibition of Chinese
Musical Instruments and "Photography of Splendid
China" was held at the Pretoria Art Museum.
A high-profile Chinese Governmental
Delegation, headed by Chen Zhili, State Councilor of China,
attended the art festival's opening ceremony together with
South African dignitaries such as Arts and Culture minister
Pallo Jordan; Agriculture and Land Affairs
minister Thoko Didiza, as well as Father
Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, Executive Mayor of the City of
Tshwane.
In Cape Town, the 1200-capacity
ARTSCAPE opera house was fully packed, while the exhibition
at the Pretoria Art Museum was also very well received,
drawing thousands of viewers from Pretoria and further
afield.
According to Mr. Wei
Yanggen, Educational Attache of the Chinese Embassy in South
Africa, more and more South Africans are showing a great
interest in studying Chinese language and culture.
Two universities, Unisa and Stellenbosch, as
well as 20 South African high schools currently offer
Mandarin courses. And as from last year, the Chinese
government is providing five fully-funded scholarships every
two years for SA students to study at Chinese tertiary
institutions.
The Chinese Minister of
Education Dr Zhou Ji visited SA in June this year and
co-chaired an Education Sectoral Committee meeting with SA's
Education minister Naledi Pandor, held within the framework
of the China-South Africa Bi-National Commission. The two
ministers signed an Agreement on Cooperation in the field of
education and agreed to open a Centre for Chinese Studies at
Stellenbosch University this month.
Up to
September this year, more than 3300 Chinese students had
come to study in South African tertiary
institutions.
In another notable development,
China and SA signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the
Implementation Plan for Outbound Travel by Chinese citizens
to SA in November, 2002.
This made SA the first
sub-Saharan African country to have been granted
Approved Destination Status by the Chinese government.
Despite the adverse effect of the SARS virus
and the appreciation of the Rand, more than 33,000 tourists
from Mainland China
visited SA in 2003 - a dramatic
increase of 28%.
China plans to send a Chinese
language teacher to SA to conduct a training course for
local tourist guides and will host 20 guides for intern
studies in China after the completion of the training.
Manqoba Nyembezi, the first SA Tourism
official to have been posted in Beijing last year,
anticipates that more Chinese tourists will visit SA this
year, which he says is bound to bring in substantial tourism
income to this country.