The Chinese Consulate-General in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, hosted a reception on Friday evening to mark the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which falls on October 1.
The event, held at the Table Bay Hotel, was attended by nearly 400 guests, including Lechesa Tsenoli, deputy speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa as the guest of honor, other parliament members, government officials, foreign diplomats, representatives from different organizations and Chinese companies in Cape Town.
In his welcome speech, You Wenze, Chinese consul-general in Cape Town, highlighted China's remarkable development under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) through 74 years of hard work.
"From the founding of the PRC in 1949, to reform and opening-up, and to the new era, the CPC led the Chinese people to open up our own waterways in the rapids of the times and embarked on a path of socialism with Chinese characteristics," said You.
He also noted that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and South Africa.
"Over the past 25 years, our relations have made a significant leap from partnership to strategic partnership and to comprehensive strategic partnership," You said.
"Our relations have entered a 'golden era,' enjoying broad prospects and a promising future."
Addressing the event, Tsenoli said that being the second largest economy in the world, China has enough to be proud of when looking back at the challenges it has faced and successfully tackled over time.
South Africa is glad about its growing relationship with China and appreciates deeply their work to promote the African Union Agenda 2063, especially the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, said Tsenoli.
"We hope that our people-to-people relationship, our party-to-party relationship, as well as our government-to-government relationship will go even deeper and stronger," he said.