On May 9, 2023, Minister of Public Enterprise of South Africa Pravin Gordhan held a ministerial dialogue with Zhang Yuzhuo, Chairman of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC). The two sides focused on deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises in line with market principles, promoting technological innovation, and strengthening state-owned assets supervision.
Zhang Yuzhuo said that President Xi Jinping and President Cyril Ramaphosa reached important consensus on strengthening the exchange of experience in governance and administration of the two countries and deepening cooperation in investment, energy and other fields, which has pointed out the direction for the development of bilateral relations and provided guidance for enhancing cooperation between state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises of the two countries. In recent years, the two sides have maintained close communication as state-owned assets supervision departments, and achieved good results in deepening exchanges and cooperation between state-owned enterprises of the two countries. The SASAC will focus on the real economy, scientific and technological innovation, deepening reform, and opening up and cooperation, accelerate high-quality development, and continue to support Chinese central state-owned enterprises to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with South African state-owned enterprises in transportation, energy security, and infrastructure in line with market and law principles, so as to better benefit the two peoples. It is hoped that the two sides will strengthen exchanges, learn from each other, discuss in-depth issues of state-owned assets supervision and governance of state-owned enterprises, and reach more consensus. It is also hoped that the two sides can adhere to openness and inclusiveness, strengthen collaboration on multilateral platforms such as the BRICS cooperation mechanism, and help build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future.
Gordhan spoke highly of the important achievements made in the reform, innovation and development of China’s state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises. He said that the friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries have a long history, and the cooperation between state-owned enterprises has achieved a series of important results, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples. State-owned enterprises in South Africa and China have similar functions and shoulder similar reform and development tasks. The South African Department of Public Enterprises hopes to learn from China’s experience in the reform, innovation and development of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises, and continuously promote the reform of South African state-owned enterprises, improve operational efficiency, and improve the functions of state-owned enterprises. It is hoped that the two sides will follow the new trend of global economic development, further deepen the exchanges and cooperation of state-owned enterprises in accordance with win-win cooperation, and continuously expand the cooperation potential in the fields of energy security, transportation logistics, infrastructure and other fields, so as to achieve mutual benefits and encourage South African state-owned enterprises to play a greater role in economic growth.
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On May 8, 2023, Minister Pravin Gordhan met with Xin Baoan, chairman of the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) at SGCC’s headquarter. The two sides agreed to implement the important consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and President Cyril Ramaphosa, strengthen cooperation on energy and electricity power, promote high-quality development under the Belt and Road Initiative, and contribute to addressing climate change and realizing sustainable global energy development.
