Chinese, S.African ministers greet each other on diplomatic ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Osaka, Japan, Jun 28, 2019. (PANG XINGLEI / XINHUA)

BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor have recently exchanged congratulatory messages to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties.

In his message dated Sunday, Qin said China and South Africa are "comrades and brothers" sharing a sincere friendship and mutual trust.

South Africa-China relations have been continuously consolidated and developed with close exchanges between the two sides at all levels

Under the strong guidance of the two countries' heads of state, the two sides have achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation, continuously deepened cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and coordinated closely in international and regional affairs, setting a good example of mutually beneficial cooperation between developing countries, he said.

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Noting that China has always viewed its relations with South Africa from a strategic perspective, Qin said China stands ready to work with South Africa to take the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties and the implementation of the consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state as an opportunity to continuously consolidate political mutual trust, deepen cooperation in various fields, and push for greater development of China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership.

For her part, Pandor said that over the past 25 years, South Africa-China relations have been continuously consolidated and developed with close exchanges between the two sides at all levels, which demonstrates the political will of the leaders of the two countries to jointly strengthen bilateral relations and the two peoples' positive attitude toward strengthening exchanges.

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South Africa-China relations have gone beyond the bilateral scope, and the two sides have cooperated closely in regional and multilateral affairs, which has promoted the common cause of developing countries, Pandor said.