Xi unveils plans to increase imports from South Africa

President Xi Jinping meets with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, in Pretoria, South Africa, on Tuesday. They are accompanied by Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, and Ramaphosa’s wife, Tshepo Motsepe. XIE HUANCHI / XINHUA

President, counterpart oversee signing of multiple cooperative documents

China would like to take proactive measures to expand imports from South Africa amid the two countries' efforts to boost strategic coordination, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday.

Xi made the remark while meeting the media with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, in Pretoria during his third state visit to South Africa.

China and South Africa signed a number of cooperation documents covering such areas as trade, investment, finance and visa simplification with the two leaders as witnesses.

The two nations are influential developing countries and emerging markets, and they have agreed to enhance strategic coordination, support multilateralism and safeguard the multilateral trade system, Xi said.

They should enhance cooperation in such areas as infrastructure, trade, investment, finance and the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi said.

Saying that the China-South Africa relationship is at a new historical juncture, Xi added that the two nations are confident in developing a brighter future for bilateral relations.

During the meeting, the presidents reached important consensus on developing the China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership in the new period, Xi said.

Both sides agreed that China-South Africa cooperation should be people-centered, he said, and the people of the two countries should benefit from the cooperation.

Xi said that Ramaphosa has accepted his invitation to make a state visit to China in September, when the South African president will attend the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Xi said China supports South Africa in making the 10th BRICS Summit, held in Johannesburg from Wednesday to Friday, a successful one.

Ramaphosa called the meeting with Xi a success and said they had a wide range of discussions covering bilateral relations and multilateral issues.

"This year we celebrate 20 years of a very close relationship between China and South Africa," Ramaphosa said, adding that relations have developed consistently in that time.

On Monday evening, Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, were greeted by high-ranking South African government officials at the airport in Pretoria.

China is South Africa's largest trading partner and South Africa is China's largest trading partner in Africa. South Africa is the fourth stop of Xi's five-nation Middle East and Africa tour, which has taken him to the United Arab Emirates, Senegal and Rwanda. He will also visit Mauritius during a stopover.