official dinner in honour of His Excellency, Wen Jiabao, Premier of the State
Council of the Peopleâs Republic of China, Tuynhuys, Cape Town
21 June 2006
Your Excellency, Premier Wen Jiabao,
The Hon Deputy President, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka,
Your Excellencies, Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Presiding Officers of our National Parliament,
Leaders of our political parties,
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Your Excellency, I am privileged to extend a very warm South African welcome
to you and the members of your delegation. South Africa attaches the greatest
importance to the close and cordial relations of friendship and mutually
beneficial co-operation between our two governments, peoples and countries. In
this regard, we are indeed very happy that our countries agreed to enter into a
strategic partnership.
We are indeed very grateful, Mr Premier, that you found time to visit us,
accompanied by a high-level government delegation as well as important
representatives of the Chinese business community. In this regard, I would like
to say welcome home, because, truly, we consider the Chinese people our own
brothers and sisters, who have stood side by side with us as we confronted
difficult challenges, as during our struggle against apartheid.
In this regard, I am very pleased indeed that, through you, Premier, the
Peopleâs Republic of China has made an unequivocal commitment to assist us to
address our serious challenges of poverty, unemployment and
underdevelopment.
Mr Premier, your visit to our country has served further to cement the
friendly relations between our two countries and, once more, to confirm our
mutual commitment to the strengthening of the strategic partnership between our
two countries. This is reflected in the document on the Programme of
Co-operation on Deepening the Strategic Partnership between the Peopleâs
Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa, which we signed today.
Our substantive and wide-ranging talks today and the important agreements we
signed constitute a practical expression of our mutual determination to give
real meaning to this strategic partnership.
As you are aware, Your Excellency, since our countries established
diplomatic relations in 1998, economic co-operation and co-operation in other
fields between the Peoples Republic of China and South Africa has grown
significantly. In this regard, it is notable that since last year, China has
become South Africaâs second largest import trading partner and our eighth
largest export partner.
This demonstrates that despite the geographic distance that separates our
countries, it is possible further to develop our economic relations, to the
mutual benefit. In this regard, Your Excellency, I am confident that the
China-South Africa Business Co-operation Forum, which will be held tomorrow,
will help us to achieve this objective, which should include larger volumes of
investment in our respective economies.
Your Excellency, I am pleased to note that our strategic relationship is
also reflected at the multilateral level. I am certain that we will continue to
work to strengthen our co-operation in this area. We are together committed to
the building of a more equitable world order, including the advancement and
deepening of South-South relations in this regard.
In this regard, one area that provides possibilities for joint efforts
between ourselves is in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. As you
will recall, Your Excellency, South Africa was one of the strongest supporters
of Chinaâs accession to the WTO. It is clear that it is in our common interest
that we should continue to work for the reform of the governance of the global
economic and financial system, of which the WTO is an important part.
Your Excellency, as members of the G20 we are faced with the challenge to
continue working together for the successful conclusion of the Doha Development
Round especially to address the needs of the developing countries.
Again, Your Excellency, I am pleased that we are working together to
encourage the reform of the United Nations, to ensure that this indispensable
world body operates as a truly democratic forum of the nations, reflecting the
political realities of the 21st century.
We also place high value on the Forum for China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC),
which will convene in Beijing in November this year. We consider the Forum an
important institution that will help us further to deepen the historic and
mutually beneficial relations between our continent and the Peopleâs Republic
of China, including the promotion of the objectives of the New Partnership for
Africaâs Development, NEPAD.
As we travel this path together we are united by the past in which our
heroic peoples struggled and defeated colonialism and apartheid and have since
faced similar challenges confronting all developing countries. As partners and
comrades, I am confident that we will again overcome whatever new challenges we
face, as we respond to matters that arise from the process of
globalisation.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I ask you to join me in a toast to the friendship
between the peoples of the Peopleâs Republic of China and South Africa and the
further strengthening of our strategic partnership.
To friendship!
Thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
21 June 2006
