On July 14 local time, President Xi Jinping met with President Jacob Zuma of South Africa in Fortaleza, Brazil.
Xi Jinping said that I had a successful visit to South Africa last year, and we both agreed to take the bilateral relations as the strategic pivot and priority in each other's foreign policy and reached broad consensus on strengthening cooperation in all fields. At the joint efforts of both sides over the past year, many of the consensus we reached have been implemented smoothly and the bilateral cooperation has yielded remarkable achievements, promoting interest convergence and common development of both countries. At present, the China-South Africa relations are at a critical period of development with great potential for cooperation. We should seize the opportunities and strive to push the China-South Africa relations to a higher level. I welcome President Zuma to visit China in the second half of the year to jointly plan the future cooperation. Both sides should actively carry out cooperation in fields such as energy, mining, agriculture, equipment manufacturing, infrastructure construction, railways and locomotives, and nuclear power. China is willing to continue coordinating with South Africa in successfully organizing the Year of South Africa in China 2014.
Xi Jinping pointed out that peace and development are the themes for Africa. China and Africa are a community of common destiny, and we are willing to share development experience with the African countries, take an active part in the peace and security affairs in Africa and promote the transnational and trans-regional connectivity projects in Africa, so as to make greater contributions to the acceleration of the African integration process. China is willing to strengthen cooperation with South Africa within the framework of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, and comprehensively deepen the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership.
Zuma said that South Africa is accelerating its process of industrialization and economic diversification, stays committed to promoting peace, stability and development in Africa, and hopes to strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership with China, enhance communication and coordination on major international and regional issues and expand cooperation in fields such as economy, trade and energy. South Africa welcomes Chinese enterprises to actively participate in South Africa's economic and social development. He is looking forward to visiting China in the second half of this year to further elevate the level of bilateral cooperation. South Africa thanks China for supporting the establishment of the African Standby Force. The ministerial conference of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum will be held in South Africa in 2015, and South Africa is willing to join efforts with China to promote Africa-China cooperation for more fruits.
Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, Yang Jiechi and others attended the meeting.