South African Trade Agreements With China

In 2014, it was announced that the Chinese Communist Party would support and build a political training school for South Africa`s ruling political party, the ANC, in Venterskroon. [45] More and more South African government officials are being sent to Chinese government schools in Beijing. South Africa plans to send more and more South African Parastat leaders to study China`s relations with its state-owned companies. [3] [46] [47] A number of annalists such as Patrick Heller[45] have argued that South Africa`s ruling ANC views the Chinese Communist Party as a model for maintaining control of the country as a de facto one-party state and/or as an aspect of the anti-Western sentiment of South African government elites. [2] [3] The Minister requested an increase in exports of value-added products to China, in accordance with the 2010 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement. In late September 2011, South African Vice President Motlanthe led a trade delegation to Beijing at the invitation of Chinese Vice President Xi. During the visit, the China Development Bank and the Development Bank of South Africa signed a $2.5 billion agreement. The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding on geological exploration and mineral resources. [35] In addition, it should be noted that mixing has an influence on ASEAN. The ASEAN bloc – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – is very close. As for logistics, it takes 14 days from Durban, South Africa`s largest port, to Singapore or a 13-hour flight. China has a free trade agreement with ASEAN, which means there is potential for saCU companies to exploit it. After many years of lobbying and commitment to Mandela, the South African government announced in November 1996 that in January 1998 it would change its recognition of Taiwan to the PRC.

[14] A visit by Taipei Foreign Minister John Chiang to meet Alfred Nzo and try to save the day yielded no results and Taipei`s ambassador to Pretoria, Gene Loh, was dismissed on December 6, 1996. [15] [16] Once again, the Dalai Lama was unable to enter South Africa when he was invited to the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in October 2014. The mayor of Cape Town says he has been asked by the national government to withdraw his visa application for visiting South Africa on grounds of “national interest”, in order to avoid embarrassment by officially refusing his visa. [57] 1st Nelson Mandela sent a congratulatory message to Jiang Zemin, President of the People`s Republic of China, on October 10, 1996, the National Day of the People`s Republic of China. [6] On November 27, he said it supported a greater China, including the PRC and the Republic of China. [7] Between 2009 and 2018, the government of South African President Jacob Zuma experienced a sharp warming of relations, which coincided with a slowdown in relations between South Africa and the United States. [8] During this period, South Africa has largely focused on supporting the BRICS partnership, in which China plays an important role. Neither the BRICS bloc nor the Silk Road initiative are free trade areas, although the BRICS can offer a common forum on which other free trade agreements can be negotiated. The importance of the BRICS and their planned actions almost certainly mean that this is a platform to encourage this – and the BRICS Brasilia 2019 declaration expressed precisely this scenario. Nevertheless, these are more diplomatic issues than more problematic issues to be resolved. China certainly has Africa in mind, and at present, SACU remains the most viable and organized African free trade bloc with which it can cooperate.

. . .