President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended his congratulations to the Chinese President Xi Jinping on his re-election as the president of China.
On Saturday, President Xi was unanimously elected as president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the PRC.
He was first elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in late 2012, and Chinese president and CMC chairman of the PRC in March 2013 - thereby pledging to push forward the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and strive for great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
President Ramaphosa said President Xi’s re-election is a vote of confidence by the people of China in his sterling leadership, as well as his ability to steer China well into the future as a leading country that will positively impact on the global community.
"South Africa is confident that the strong bilateral relations between our two countries that is built on a historical legacy of friendship and partnership will continue to grow in scope and stature in the coming years,” the President said on Sunday.
Over the past 20 years, the two countries achieved a significant number of bilateral cooperation agreements in areas including trade, investment, economic and people-to-people relations.
South Africa and China share a common developmental agenda based on the principle of internationalism and enjoy strong diplomatic and trade relations.
China is South Africa's biggest trading partner and also the second biggest economy in the world.
The two countries share membership of and participate as partners in numerous international bodies, including BRICS, the Group of 77 + China, G20 and are co-chairs of FOCAC.
President Ramaphosa said he wishes President Xi as well as the government and the people of China success and prosperity.
He added that he looks forward to personally receiving President Xi during his visit to South Africa in July 2018 to attend the 10th BRICS Summit.
South Africa as the chair is scheduled to host the summit from 25 – 27 July at the Sandton Convention Centre which will see South Africa building on the BRICS programme of development and prosperity for partner countries.
South Africa has indicated that the summit will be an important milestone towards building stronger solidarity and cooperation among emerging markets. - SAnews.gov.za
