PRETORIA — Visiting State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed with South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu on June 4 to further fortify bilateral relations.

During their meeting, Wang said that since China and South Africa established diplomatic relations 20 years ago, bilateral ties have sustained a sound momentum of growth.

The connotations of China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership exceed the bilateral scope and have acquired growing global influence, he said.

The minister called for efforts to strengthen strategic communication and political mutual trust between the two countries so as to make bilateral cooperation more pragmatic, more effective and bring more benefits to the people.

Noting that South Africa will host the BRICS summit in July and China will host the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September, Wang expressed the hope that the two sides will enhance coordination and support each other to ensure that the two major events will be completely successful.

China welcomes South Africa to attend the China International Import Expo (CIIE) to be held in Shanghai in November, attaches importance to the “new investment drive” proposed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and will encourage its enterprises to participate in the upcoming Investment Conference and Jobs Summit in the African country, Wang said.

For her part, Sisulu noted that South Africa highly values the friendship with China and attaches importance to their comprehensive strategic partnership.

The new South African government is committed to further elevating bilateral cooperation to a new height while building on their existing friendly relations, Sisulu said.

South Africa eagerly looks forward to President Xi Jinping’s attendance at the BRICS summit in South Africa and state visit to the country, said Sisulu, adding that her country will coordinate with China closely to make sure that the visit will be completely successful and score practical results.

She also said that South Africa thanks China for its strong support to the African country in hosting the BRICS summit this year and stands ready to coordinate with China to ensure that both the BRICS summit and the FOCAC Beijing summit will be successful.

Sisulu also reaffirmed her country’s firm adherence to the one-China principle and expressed the willingness to further deepen economic and trade cooperation with China.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with Wang on June 3, and said his country has always viewed its relations with China from a strategic perspective and expects to further strengthen bilateral cooperation under the current complex and changing international circumstances.