Johannesburg - Within just five months of the current year, bilateral trade agreements between the People's Republic of China and South Africa have reached over $24 billion (more than R365bn), with more fruits on the horizon.
Looking ahead, stakeholders who attended the China-South Africa New Energy Investment and Co-operation Conference held at the Sandton International Convention Centre yesterday said they hoped the relations between the two countries would help both enjoy new opportunities, with renewable energy co-operation as the new driver to highlight their economic and trade cooperation.
The conference organised by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) brought 50 business leaders from 24 enterprises from China to visit South Africa to hopefully expand cooperation in energy, manufacturing, industrial parks, and infrastructure sectors based on current close cooperation.
Chinese ambassador Chen Xiaodong, speaking at the conference, said China was actively pursuing high-quality development at home, so much so that they were vigorously developing renewables, with China now leading the world in technology, financial resources, and human talent.
Xiaodong said that as it stood, South Africa was one of the largest investment destinations for Chinese enterprises in Africa, with Chinese companies already having invested a total of over $25bn at the end of 2022, creating over 400 000 local jobs as a result.
By April this year, he said more than 60 Chinese companies had participated in South Africa's fifth Investment Conference and announced nearly R15bn in intended new investment.
“President Ramaphosa pointed out that the overriding priority of South Africa is still to end load-shedding and achieve energy security. China and South Africa have common development aspirations and strong complementarities in new energy. We have what it takes to be reliable friends and strong partners in each other's economic and social transformation and development."
“China is ready to work with South Africa to take the opportunities provided by the conference to encourage more companies in both countries to connect on new energy cooperation and jointly advance the green and sustainable development of both countries,” he added.
To that effect, Xiaodong explained that China's Energy Investment Corporation had already been in communication with Eskom on electricity technology.
In addition, the China State Grid will also send a team of experts to South Africa soon to provide technical advice.
“China is ready to continue to send more technical experts here. We are ready to share more technical know-how with South Africa, provide more personnel training, and encourage Chinese enterprises here to train more local professionals through the transfer of advanced technology and skills training that we believe will assist South Africa in enhancing capacity for self-driven development in the new energy industry.”
The Star