On 7 August, Ambassador Wu Peng visited Bloemfontein and met separately with Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae of the Free State Province and Speaker Mxolisi Dukwana of the Free State Provincial Legislature.

Ambassador Wu extended his congratulations to the Free State Province on the successful hosting of the G20 Cultural Diplomacy Outreach Programme. He emphasized that local-level cooperation is an important component of China–South Africa relations. China stands ready to work with South Africa to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, further strengthen exchanges and dialogue at all levels, and expand cooperation in such areas as trade and investment, power and energy, agriculture, and cultural exchanges, so as to deliver greater benefits to the peoples of both countries.

Premier Letsoha-Mathae warmly welcomed Ambassador Wu to the Free State Province. She briefed him on the province’s socio-economic development and expressed her hope to deepen cooperation with China in fields such as agriculture, infrastructure, and new energy. She also welcomed more Chinese enterprises to invest in the province and contribute to the advancement of China–South Africa relations.

Speaker Dukwana commended China’s remarkable achievements in socio-economic development and expressed his wish to draw on China’s governance experience. He said he looked forward to enhancing exchanges and cooperation with China between legislatures and in various other fields, with a view to achieving new progress in China–South Africa relations.