Pretoria - The People's Republic of China has ushered in the Year of the Tiger with hopes for prosperity for all and even better relations between China, South Africa and the rest of Africa.
Ambassador Chen Xiaodong speaking at the virtual celebration of the Chinese New Year earlier today said 2021 was a landmark year in the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the country.
Xiaodong said under the leadership of the CPC central committee led by President Xi Jinping the country had managed to celebrate not only the leading party's centenary but also managed to achieve the goal of building a moderately prosperous society and winning the battle against poverty.
The ambassador said with the global community still facing major changes and a pandemic unseen in a century, he would support and reiterate president Jinping's sentiments at the 2022 World Economic Forum virtual session for countries to embrace co-operation and jointly defeat the pandemic.
Not only that but to also work together to resolve various risks and promote steady recovery of the world economy, bridge the development divide and revitalise global development.
"We need to discard Cold War mentality and seek peaceful coexistence and win-win outcomes. In the new year, China and South Africa will follow the important common understandings between our heads of state as we deliver the outcome of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) meetings.
"We will continue to deepen mutual trust, promote co-operation, pursue high-quality Belt and Road co-operation, jointly safeguard multilateralism and international justice, and promote the building of a China-South Africa and China-Africa community with a shared future."
As it stands currently, Xiaodong said the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation had entered an irreversible historical process, with the 6th plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee sending out a call for a new journey and a new era of success.
He added that China had managed to maintain global leadership in economic development and Covid-19 responses, with the country's Gross Domestic Product growing at 8.1 percent annually.
This figure meant the country put out a total economic output of 17.7 trillion US dollars, accounting for more than 18 percent of the global economy.
Xiaodong said China's foreign trade volume had also exceeded the 6 trillion US dollars threshold for the first time, stabilising the country's position as the world's top trading nation.
"China has taken a clear stand on multilateral occasions, opposed hegemony and bullying, defended fairness and justice, advocated common values of humanity, and worked to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
He also took the opportunity to assure the global community that the country was well and truly ready to host the athletes in the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.
In a pre-recorded message President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated the people's Republic of China's new year stating that with countries still to embark on recovering and rebuilding in the wake of the Covid-19, he hoped that the comprehensive, strategic partnership between China and South Africa would lead to mutual economic growth, development and common prosperity.
"We hope for prosperity for ourselves, our respective regions and the rest of the world. The year ahead we will be focusing on ending the pandemic, alleviating poverty, reducing inequality and creating more jobs."
"South Africa is grateful to the People's Republic of China for its support throughout the pandemic and particularly for ensuring Africa has greater access to Covid-19 vaccines. We are only safe when everyone is safe, no country or community must be left behind."
Pretoria News