President Hu Jintao arrived in Pretoria on Tuesday for a state
visit, which is aimed at enhancing the long-term and stable
strategic partnership between China and South Africa.
Hu arrived here from Windhoek after his state visit to Namibia.
In Pretoria, he will hold talks with South African President
ThaboMbeki on expanding mutually beneficial cooperation between the
two countries.
In a written statement released at the airport, Hu said that the
new South Africa, since its founding, has made remarkable
achievements in national reconciliation and economic and social
development.
"As an advocate for African renaissance and a promoter of
South-South cooperation and South-North dialogue, South Africa has
made important contributions to peace and development in Africa and
the whole world," he said.
Hu said that in the long years when the South African people
were fighting apartheid, the Chinese people always stood by their
side.
In nearly 10 years since the establishment of diplomatic
relations, the China-South Africa strategic partnership, which is
based on equality and mutual benefit for common development has
steadily grown in depth, according to the Chinese president.
And these have been promoted by frequent exchange of high-level
visits, fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation and sound
coordination and collaboration in international and regional
affairs, Hu added.
China and South Africa are major countries in Asia and Africa
respectively and both are important developing countries.
"To strengthen and develop our bilateral ties not only benefits
our two peoples but also helps facilitate solidarity and
cooperation among developing countries and promote peace and
development in the world," he said.
China and South Africa set up diplomatic ties in January 1998.
Since then, relations between the two countries have developed
rapidly.
The two countries have established a strategic partnership and
cooperated fruitfully in politics, trade and economy, science and
technology, culture, education, tourism and human resources.
Last November, South African President Thabo Mbeki paid a state
visit to China and attended the Beijing Summit of the Forum on
China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). During his visit, President Mbeki
met President Hu and took part in talks on furthering bilateral
ties.
The two presidents reached an extensive consensus on enhancing
their countries' long-term and stable strategic partnership on the
basis of equality, mutual benefit and common development.
Hu is on an eight-nation tour of Africa that has already taken
him to Cameroon, Liberia, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, before South
Africa, and will also take him to Mozambique and the
Seychelles.
(Xinhua News Agency February 7, 2007)
