South Africa would foster a strategic and long-term relationship with China, based on shared values and common approaches to broader global and geopolitical issues, a government official said on Wednesday.

Iqbal Sharma, deputy director general of Department of Trade and Industry, said that a long-term partnership on economic cooperation with the world's fastest-growing economy best served the strategic interests of the South African economy.

The official made the statement while briefing parliament's trade and industry portfolio committee in Cape Town.

"Is China really the problem? If we block China, will India or Pakistan or Bangladesh become the new problems? Should consumers and taxpayers bail out uncompetitive or unsustainable sectors?" he asked.

He also questioned whether the surge in clothing imports from China -- local industry has been calling for limits to be placed on these -- was really the reason for sector's woes.

Sharma said employment appeared to have been dropping in the sector well before Chinese imports began increasing significantly.

"It is also valuable to note that while employment has either been declining or stagnating in the textiles sector, sales have grown consistently in the last 10 years," he said.

He said "it could therefore be argued that competitive pressures were already at play in the sector, and the current effects being attributed to imports from China could be continuing evidence of global competition."

The official noted that an alarming lack of creativity, entrepreneurship, vision and leadership was a major reason for the sorry state of South Africa's clothing, textile and footwear sector.

He also noted the sector's elaborate management structures, which paid themselves high wages while maintaining "apartheid- mentality relationships" with workers.

The industry had to take some responsibility for the predicament in which it found itself, and the predicament in which it placed workers.

"The lack of creativity, entrepreneurship, vision and leadership in this industry is alarming. Opportunities to benefit from South Africa's market access arrangements continue to fly over the heads of established, so-called industry leaders," Sharma said.

Source: Xinhua