South Africa is set on elevating its relationship with China, with the intention of attracting investments, increasing its exports and transforming the economy into the manufacturing hub of Africa.
This is according to Minister in The Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who was addressing members of the media in Beijing on the sidelines of the South Africa-China Business Forum on the occasion of the State Visit to China by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
"We want to reduce the trade deficit, which means we need South African companies to invest in China and also Chinese companies to invest in South Africa. We have committed to increase exports from South Africa to China, not only in the field of agriculture but also in the field of manufacturing, infrastructure and energy," the Minister said.
South Africa, the Minister said, is positioning itself as a hub for everyone who wants to do business in Africa in terms of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA).
"We want businesses to position themselves in South Africa, given the infrastructure that we have and the accessibility of our markets.
"We want South Africa to be a construction site for our own infrastructure; but also a construction site to make South Africa the manufacturing hub of Africa. We don't want to be a landing port for goods to move into the African continent. The goods will have to be manufactured in Africa. We are therefore positioning ourselves for goods to be manufactured in South Africa," the Minister said.
During engagements that President Ramaphosa had with business, he encouraged Chinese investors to come to South Africa and invest at the next investment conference.
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"We have just completed a meeting with 16 top Chinese companies in terms of the work they are doing in South Africa. Yesterday, the President went to the city of Shenzhen with a delegation to talk about driving the digital economy and the partnership between the Eastern Cape province and the province that is responsible for the Shenzhen area, which has a partnership there.
"We are also joined by the Premiers of the North West and Limpopo, who had other meetings because part of this work is to increase investments in other provinces in South Africa. We want to make sure there is a spread of investments in the country," Ntshavheni said.
The Minister welcomed the groundbreaking agreement that was signed with China in agriculture, as it removes restrictions on exporting beef when there is a breakout of foot and mouth disease in one area.
"We are one of the largest producers of beef in the world. We had a limitation due to foot and mouth disease. When there is foot and mouth disease in one area, the beef products in South Africa get banned.
"What we have signed now with China is that if there is foot and mouth disease in Limpopo, it won't affect our ability to export beef from any other part of the country. We will be working with the Department of Agriculture to make sure that we can export beef quickly," the Minister said.
