On April 25, 2022, President Xi Jinping sent a message to South African President Cyril
Ramaphosa, in which he extended warm congratulations and good wishes to the government
and people of South Africa over the 28th Freedom Day of the country.
President Xi wrote that “during the recent phone call between us, we forged consensus on
matters including China-South Africa relationship and regional issues. I attach great importance
to the development of China-South Africa relations, and stand ready to work with Your
Excellency to strengthen communication and coordination between each other, deepen practical
cooperation, firmly support each other on issues concerning each other’ core interests and
major concerns, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries”.
One of the recent examples of the China-South Africa relationship and regional issues was the Job Fair 2022 that was successfully held by South Africa-China Economy and Trade Association in Johannesburg, South Africa on April 14.
According to Statistics South Africa, the country’s unemployment rate rose by 0.4 of a percentage point to reach 35.3 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 34.9 percent the previous quarter.
President Xi Jinping and President Ramaphosa had a phone conversation last month and reached important agreements on bilateral cooperation.
The Job Fair is a concrete initiative and effort to implement those agreements. This event aims to achieve win-win results. It creates jobs for South Africans. It also provides an opportunity for Chinese enterprises to hire local talents and pursue localized development.
Over 100 Chinese-invested enterprises pledge to provide 20,000 jobs directly for South Africans in the next three years in support of South Africa’s socioeconomic development, writing wonderful chapters of China-South Africa win-win cooperation and common development.
China has been South Africa’s largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years. Even against COVID, bilateral trade reached over 54 billion US dollars last year, up by over 50 percent. South Africa's exports to China reached over 33 billion US dollars, up by nearly 60 percent. South Africa is also one of the largest investment destinations for Chinese companies in Africa. By the end of 2021, China's investment in South Africa totalled over 25 billion US dollars, which created over 400,000 local jobs.