Premier Li Keqiang met with David Mabuza, vice-president of South Africa, in the Great Hall of the People on Oct 29. Mabuza is on a state visit to China for the seventh plenary meeting of the China-South Africa Bi-National Commission.

Premier Li said South Africa is an important African country. The continuously deepening China-South Africa relationship benefits bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries.

Since last year, the heads of the two states have had many fruitful meetings, Premier Li said. In the current context, China is willing to consolidate political mutual trust with South Africa, while promoting pragmatic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges to make new achievements in China-South Africa and China-Africa relations.

The Premier said China and South Africa are both developing countries and have extensive common interests. China is willing to intensify the communication and coordination with South Africa in international and regional affairs, strengthen cooperation in multilateral mechanisms such as UN and BRICS, safeguard the interests of developing countries and maintain regional and world peace and stability.

Mabuza congratulated the Premier on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

He said the current South Africa-China relationship is developing in an all-around way and thanked China for its long-time support of the development of South Africa and other African countries.

Mabuza said South Africa admires China’s great success in development and is willing to learn from China’s experiences, deepen pragmatic cooperation in all fields and push the bilateral relationship between the two countries to a new high.

State Councilor Wang Yi and He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, also attended the meeting.