The Second China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) in Changsha, capital city of central China’s Hunan Province, is poised to maximize cooperation opportunities between China and Africa. At the expo, South African Ambassador to China Siyabonga Cwele gave an interview to ChinAfrica, highlighting the importance of economic and trade cooperation between China and South Africa.
ChinAfrica: Currently, the volume of South Africa’s exports of agricultural products to China is not big. How can the two countries bring more South African agricultural products to the Chinese market? What role can platforms like China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo play in it?
Siyabonga Cwele: The CAETE is one of the most important economic and trade cooperation platforms for deepening China-Africa cooperation under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) mechanism, which provides an opportunity and platform for African countries to showcase their strength and for Chinese enterprises to share their experience in various sectors. The second CAETE comes at a critical time as many of our economies have been hit hard by the pandemic. This event creates the ideal opportunity to promote a variety of our world famous fruits which have gained recognition in the North American, European and Middle Eastern markets.
