Xi, Zuma for convergence of interests
July 15, 2014, 9:15 am

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R, front) meets with South African President Jacob Zuma (L, front) in Fortaleza, Brazil, July 14, 2014 [Xinhua]

Xi vowed to “promote the convergence of interests and common development of both China and South Africa.” Pretoria has long claimed South Africa as the gateway to Africa aiding Beijing’s wider aim of creating a Chinese footprint in the continent.

The South African President will visit China in the second half of 2014, during which the two countries will lay down a “blueprint for future cooperation”.

The Chinese president said during his South Africa tour in 2013, that Sino-South African bilateral ties are “a priority of each other’s overall foreign policy”.

Beijing and Pretoria will cooperate in joint projects in “energy, mineral resources, agriculture, infrastructure, rail locomotive and nuclear energy”, Chinese state media reported after Xi-Zuma talks.

China will pursue greater integration of the African continent, Xi told Zuma in Fortaleza. China’s annual trade with the African continent has surpassed $160 billion.

“China is ready to share its development experience with African countries, actively participate in security affairs in Africa, and carry out projects to improve trans-national and trans-regional interconnectivity in the continent, so as to make greater contribution to African integration process,” he said.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on a visit to Africa last month that the government will boost its line of credit to African nations by half to $30 billion.

The ministerial meeting of China-Africa Cooperation Forum is scheduled in South Africa in 2015.

“We are ready to work with China to ensure Africa-China cooperation bears more results,” Zuma said adding that Pretoria would welcome more Chinese investment in the country. South Africa remains heavily reliant on investments to fund a very large shortfall on the current account- the difference between its exports of goods and services and the total imports of goods and services.

Zuma and Xi will now attend the 6^th BRICS leaders Summit today.

Helmo Preuss in Fortaleza, Brazil for The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies