Abbey Makoe
Pretoria - The People’s Republic of China recently celebrated the dawn of their New Year – dubbed the “Year of the Tiger” – amid much fanfare.
The tiger symbolises strength, bravery and independence. Various heads of state, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, sent well-wishes to President Xi Jinping on behalf of the more than 1 billion Chinese people who observed Chinese New Year 2022.
Ramaphosa said: “South Africa is grateful to the People’s Republic of China for its support throughout the pandemic, and particularly for working to ensure that Africa has greater access to Covid-19 vaccines. The global recovery depends on everyone being vaccinated. We are only safe when everyone is safe. No country and no community must be left behind.”
Indeed, since the outbreak of the pandemic China has provided more than 2 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organisations. It further contributed to bridging the international immunity gap as well as strengthening global co-operation in fighting Covid-19.
Ramaphosa further said that it was his wish that “the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and South Africa will lead to mutual economic growth, development and common prosperity for the rest of the world”. Bilateral (practical) co-operation between Beijing and Pretoria steadily advanced throughout the year.
Trade between the two allies delivered an impressive performance, reaching $54.35 billion, up 50.7% year-on-year. This was a record high since 2015, indicating that under the current friendly relations between the two nations mutual economic returns are on the rise.
For example, South Africa’s exports to China last year reached $33.23bn, up 59.6% year-on-year. China and South Africa have also maintained close communication and co-operation in the UN, the G20, BRICS, Focac and other multilateral institutions.
China’s rapid rise in geo-politics has placed the East Asian powerhouse in pole position to lead the world in efforts to end the pandemic, “alleviating poverty, reducing inequality and creating more jobs”, according to Ramaphosa’s statement.
The Chinese Embassy in South Africa led a well-attended virtual New Year’s celebrations hosted by Ambassador Chen Xiaodong, who said: “The Year of the Tiger is bidding farewell to the Year of the Ox.”
Ambassador Chen explained: “The year 2021 is a landmark year in the history of the Communist Party of China and our country.
Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, we celebrated the CPC’s centenary; achieved on schedule the goal of comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society, won the battle against poverty, and achieved our first centenary goal. The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process.”
He added: “During the year, we maintained global leadership in economic development and the Covid-19 response. Our GDP grew at 8.1% annually, which puts us at a total economic output of $17.7 trillion, accounting for more than 18% of the global economy.”
China’s foreign trade volume also exceeded the $6 trillion threshold for the very first time, thus stabilising Beijing’s position as the world’s number one trading nation.
According to Ambassador Chen, China’s diplomacy in the year just passed has been guided by the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era and the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy.
The dawn of the Year of the Tiger was being celebrated just days before the commencement of the recently concluded Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Ambassador Chen said China hoped “the Winter Olympics will promote peace, unity, hope and courage and also usher in the way for humanity to join hands to defeat Covid-19”.
Pretoria News