Cape Town - China’s vice Premier, Sun Chunlan, and Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, signed several cooperation agreements during the third meeting of the South Africa-China high-level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism (PPEM).
The two nations agreed to work together to foster the advancement of human rights in the areas of health, education, cultural expressions, sport, tourism, communication and technology, with a focus on programmes directed at women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
The meeting, which was attended by a high-level delegation from both governments, also committed to sustainable development, economic growth, environmental sustainability, global integration, development, peace, and harmonisation.
Mthethwa stated that the meeting was significant because it allows the two countries to reflect on their journey since 2017, their achievements, and their challenges.
"Our two co-coordinators met in the recent past to review the work of PPEM and provided some necessary impetus to the work of the various streams and sectors that make up the initiative. The meeting was crucial in that it was the first meeting of the coordinators since the formation of the PPEM after such a long period since the advent of Covid-19. The meeting noted that there has been considerable work done in various streams that are part of the PPEM," said Mthethwa.
He added: "As I close this meeting today, kindly allow me to appeal to all of us to ensure that at our fourth South Africa-China People-to-People Exchange Mechanism, we are able to report on even more tangible and demonstrable progress on the decisions reached here today. Let us ensure that the fourth meeting reports on the impact of these noble decisions.
Before the meeting, Chunlan met with President Cyril Ramaphosa, who conveyed his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping and thanked China for extending a helping hand to South Africa in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chunlan said this demonstrated the profound friendship between the peoples of the two countries. President Ramaphosa emphasised that the South Africa-China relationship is of special and strategic significance, and both sides should work to enrich the content of bilateral relations, consolidate political mutual trust, expand trade and investment, promote people-to-people exchanges, and deepen cooperation within the framework of mechanisms such as the BRICS to enable more ordinary people from both countries to engage in bilateral relations.
"China always views its relations with South Africa from a strategic and long-term perspective and is ready to work with South Africa to follow the important guidance of the consensus reached by the two heads of state, continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, and deepen experience-sharing on governance and development," said Chunlan.
She said the Chinese government has been optimising epidemic prevention and control measures and actively creating conditions for facilitating people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries.