Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Liu Guijin said the past four years witnessed a big progress in many cooperation fields since the two countries forged diplomatic relations four years ago.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin paid a successful state visit to South Africa in April 2000 and signed the Pretoria Declaration, thus opening a new chapter and laying a solid foundation for the bilateral relations, he said.

South African President Thabo Mbeki visited China last December and launched a joint committee between the two countries with President Jiang, marking a new era for the mechanism of dialogue and cooperation of mutual trust between the two countries.

As developing countries, China and South Africa have maintained friendly relations of mutual benefit on an equal footing, respected each other's sovereignty and explored common development, said the Chinese ambassador.

The two sides have identical and similar stance in many fields, said Liu, adding that in international arena they back each other and make friendly consultations in a bid to set up a new international political and economic order of fairness and justice.

The cooperation between the Chinese and South African governments is constructive and effective, said Liu.

China backs the efforts by African countries to pursue peace, stability and development, he said.

On the multilateral forums, such as the "G-77 + China" forum and UN organizations, China protects and promotes Africa's interests, forging ahead with the new-type Sino-Africa ties on a basis of equality and mutual benefit.

China has appreciated the stance taken by South Africa to cherish China ties and adhere to one-China principle, Liu said.

China supports the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiated by President Mbeki and expects the blueprint a success.

On the Sino-South African cooperation, the Chinese ambassador said, the two governments has been strengthening economic relations within the framework of the South-South cooperation, encouraging the two countries' companies to explore business opportunities in each side in a number of fields, especially the mining and manufacturing industries.

Up to now, China and South Africa have shaped up sound cooperation of trade and technology. He said the scientific circles of the two countries have recently held a joint committee meeting and mapped out specific cooperative programs.

Besides, the two sides have started cooperation in the fields of Chinese traditional medicine and transport.

Liu said China and South Africa are mutually supplementary in economy and have a bright future of development.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries four years ago, the trade has been progressing rapidly with a year-on-year growth of 10 percent and amounted to 2.2 billion US dollars last year.

In the first half of this year, the trade hit 1.2 billion dollars and it is estimated to be up to 2.4 billion dollars in the whole year, up 9 percent over last year.

He said a number of firms from the two countries have already made a lot of investment.

In South Africa, the total investment by Chinese firms reaches 200 million dollars and the figure is growing, the number of projects amounts to 74, ranging from mining industry to home electronic appliances.

In China, the total investment by South African firms amounts to 400 million dollars and the projects have been started in the fields of brewery, steel, chemicals and wharfs.

He said such cooperation is conducive to both Chinese and SouthAfrican economies, adding that the Chinese government backs firms from both the two countries to make investment and set up factories in each side's country.

(People's Daily August 31, 2002)