The Foreign Ministry has urged the South African government to bring those responsible for the recent armed robberies against Chinese citizens to justice as soon as possible.

 

Huang Ping, deputy director of the ministry's Consular Affairs Department, held an urgent meeting yesterday with Vusi B. Koloane, chargé d'affaires of the South African Embassy in Beijing, according to a press release from the ministry.

 

Huang told Koloane that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the life and property safety of overseas Chinese citizens and is very concerned about the recent spate of events.

 

"We hope South Africa will take China's concerns into full consideration, severely punish the killers according to law and take whatever measures necessary to improve the local security situation to prevent the reoccurrence of similar cases," Huang said.

 

Koloane vowed that South Africa would thoroughly investigate the cases and would join with Chinese police to launch an effective campaign against organized crime in the country.

 

He also expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the armed robberies.

 

Three Chinese business people were killed by armed robbers in South Africa within 36 hours last weekend; another one was killed earlier this year.

 

China has already appealed to Chinese citizens in South Africa to keep alert and take necessary precautions.

 

According to latest official statistics, there were more than 40 armed robberies involving Chinese citizens in South Africa last year, with eight fatalities.

 

In another development, Vice Minister of Commerce Wei Jianguo met with Koloane earlier on Wednesday and said that China is willing to enhance technology transfer and investment cooperation with South Africa in textiles, agriculture, mining and medicine.

 

Wei also said that China hopes the first round of talks on establishment of free trade area between China and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) will be started as soon as possible.

 

South Africa will further improve its investment environment so as to attract more Chinese business people, Koloane said.

 

In 2005, the value of trade between China and South Africa grew 23 percent year-on-year to US$7.27 billion, making South Africa China's largest trade partner in Africa.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2006)