Chinese Consul General in Durban, Li Zhigong, and KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli during a gala dinner on Saturday at the Coastlands Hotel in Musgrave to mark the beginning of the Chinese Spring Festival. Picture: Tumi Pakkies/ Independent Newspapers.
DURBAN: The Chinese Consul General in Durban, Li Zhigong, has vowed to strengthen the long-standing ties between China, one of the world’s economic powerhouses, and KwaZulu-Natal to cement another “golden chapter” in a “golden era”.
Zhigong was speaking at a gala dinner on Saturday held in Durban as the Chinese people celebrated their Spring Festival.
The festival marks the start of the Chinese New Year, and dubbed 2025 the Year of the Snake as they wrapped up the Year of the Dragon (2024).
During his address, Zhigong stressed the importance of the China-South African bilateral relationship after trade between the countries reached more than R1 trillion in 2023.
“2024 is also a milestone year for China-South African relations. China has been South Africa’s largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, with the bilateral trade volume reaching $55.6 billion in 2023, which is about 35 times more since diplomatic relations between the countries was first established.”
Zhigong said the “friendly” relations between China and KZN, which continued to develop presently, and has yielded positive results in various sectors, including agriculture.
“The governments of both sides worked together in agriculture, infrastructure and industrial capacity cooperation, and economic and trade exchanges are getting increasingly closer,” said Zhigong.
He cited the EB Cloete Interchange and N3 highway development as one of the projects that was led by Chinese companies and was “progressing smoothly".
In November, the Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, Wu Peng, met with Premier Ntuli, where the two counterparts discussed the strengthening of ties and further cooperation.
Looking ahead, Zhigong said: “The partnership between China and KZN will provide more impetus and broader prospects for the comprehensive strategic cooperation between the two.”
Reflecting on the Spring Festival, Zhigong stated: “It is one of the most celebrated traditional holidays in China. In 2024, it was inscribed on the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage on Humanity.”
He also reflected on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the Asian country in September with his high-powered delegation of Cabinet ministers.
“The two heads of state (Ramaphosa and Xi Jinping) announced the elevation of the China-South Africa relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the ”New Era“ and witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents.
“China-South Africa cooperation has shown strong resilience and broad prospects, opening the new chapter of building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future,” said Zhigong.
China and the ANC, which is leading the Government of National Unity (GNU), enjoy a special historical relationship forged during gloomy days of colonialism and deepened at the height of apartheid from the late 1940s until 1994.
Many freedom fighters from the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP) trekked to China with a begging bowl, asking for financial and military aid. According to recorded history, the freedom fighters also sought advice on strategies they could use to topple the repressive apartheid government.
To further cement ties, South Africa was roped in as one of the member states of Brics formed in 2009, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China.
At the event, Premier Ntuli assured Chinese investors that the province was a safe place to invest in, stressing that the province was ruthlessly cracking down on crime, a major concern for many investors and would-be investors.
“The Chinese people have, for centuries, influenced the world in many positive ways, including through culture, sports, politics and economy. I have no doubt, therefore, that China will continue to influence millions of lives globally in a broad range of areas such as agriculture, transportation, mining technological developments,” said Ntuli.
He concluded: “As we celebrate with Chinese people all over the world, we also celebrate friendship and partnership, which should make us look forward to strengthening a sustainable dialogue and consensus on areas such as the inter-civilisation exchanges, green development and agricultural cooperation.”
Zandile Myeni, the deputy mayor of eThekwini, said that the city was the safest place to invest, reiterating that the government was pulling out all the stops in tackling rampant crime.
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