S. African foreign minister to visit China for talks

South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will on Tuesday leave Brussels for Beijing for bilateral political and economic discussions with her Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, South Africa's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Issues on the agenda of the talks on May 20 will include the status of the political and economic relations between South Africa and China, briefings on political developments in Africa including peacekeeping and conflict resolution and other issues of global importance, the ministry said in a statement.

The discussions in Beijing "come within the context of South Africa's priority to consolidate political, economic and trade relations with the Peoples Republic of China," said the ministry's spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa.

Mamoepa said South Africa's strategic engagement with China is a key foreign policy priority because South Africa and China share many social and development challenges.

"China has been identified as a key global actor with whom South Africa seeks to broaden relations in support of South-South cooperation, another key objective of South Africa's foreign policy," he said.

South Africa is China's key trade partner in Africa, accounting for nearly 21 percent of the total volume of China- Africa trade. In 2006, China became South Africa's second largest import trading partner and the sixth largest export partner, Mamoepa said.

Dlamini-Zuma was in Brussels to lead a senior South African government delegation to the South Africa-EU Ministerial Troika meeting.

Source: Xinhua