Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to paint the South African capital city, Pretoria, as red as the flag of China when he “kills two birds with one stone”, attending the BRICS heads of state summit and also using the time as an official state visit.
He is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday August 22, the day the BRICS Summit kicks off in earnest until it ends two days later, on August 24 in Sandton, Johannesburg.
SA and China enjoy the warmest bilateral relations since the diplomatic ties were established between the two nations 25 years ago. The Chinese leader’s state visit this week will be his fourth to Pretoria. His first state visit was in 2013, then two years later in 2015 and then the last was in 2018.
The embassy of China in SA in fact describes trade between Pretoria and Beijing as follows: “Economic and trade cooperation benefits both sides. China has been SA’s largest trading partner for 14 years in a row, and SA has been China’s largest trading partner in Africa for 13 years straight.” The pomp and ceremony that awaits President Xi’s arrival at the Union Buildings – seat of government – will bear testimony to China’s growing influence and impact in global affairs. Dozens of bilateral meetings with the visiting heads of state who all are keen to cement ties with China as the world look to the east are also a barometer of China’s stature in a global force.
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