Thaindian News

Beijing, Aug 24 (IANS) China and South Africa Tuesday pledged to strengthen their bilateral relations and signed a “comprehensive strategic agreement”.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and visiting South African President Jacob Zuma signed the Beijing Declaration after their one-hour talks in the Great Hall of the People, Xinhua reported.

The declaration outlined 38 bilateral cooperation agreements, ranging from political dialogues, trade, investment, mineral exploration and agriculture to joint efforts in the global arena, such as in the UN and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

According to the declaration, the two sides expressed the desire to further strengthen and deepen friendly exchange and cooperation between the two nations in both political and regional affairs by establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership based on equality, mutual benefit and common development.

The presidents agreed to maintain frequent contact in order to enhance mutual understanding of and support for each other’s positions and interests.

The two countries’ vice presidents will co-chair Bi-National Commission plenary sessions every two years to guide and coordinate exchange and cooperation on political and economic matters of mutual interest in the bilateral and multilateral spheres.

In area of economics, the two sides agreed to improve the current structure of trade between the two countries, in particular by working towards more balanced trade profiles and encouraging trade in manufactured value-added products.

In this regard, the two sides agreed to increase trade and investment missions and to establish a joint work group to study statistical discrepancies in the area of bilateral trade.

“China, in this spirit, will encourage its enterprises to increase investment in South Africa’s manufacturing industry and promote the creation of value-adding activities in close proximity to the source of raw materials,” says the declaration.