Sino-African cooperation counts on Jinhua to continue a wonderful exchange among nations.

The 2022 China-Africa Economic and Trade Forum and China-Africa Cultural Cooperation and Exchange Week are about to be held. On November 14, reporters from Jinhua interviewed South African Ambassador Siyabonga Cyprian Cwele in Beijing.

“Jinhua is a wonderful city, I must go and visit it,” said ambassador Cwele, who has never been to Jinhua but has been closely watching the city. Cwele began interacting with the city last September when he first met leaders of Jinhua in Beijing.

In the first three quarters of 2022, Jinhua’s imports and exports to South Africa increased by 44% with a total value of nearly 6.5 billion RMB. “While the pandemic had a dramatic impact on global supply and industrial lines of trade, our commerce has maintained strong momentum,” said ambassador Cwele. The volume of trade between Jinhua and South Africa is very important, and gives the ambassador full confidence for future cooperation.

Speaking of economic cooperation, ambassador Cwele is familiar with Jinhua’s features, and he is open to welcome an increasing number of Jinhua enterprises to invest in South Africa. He hopes that more attention is paid to South Africa’s energy, transport, agriculture and agro-processing, information and communications technology, and new energy vehicles. These are fields in which opportunities are considerable and restrictions on private enterprises in energy development have been lifted. In June, Mr. Cwele attended the Zhejiang–South Africa Trade and Investment Cooperation Conference and was pleased to see that Jinhua and South African companies have reached a cooperation agreement in the field of medicine and health. He considers this crucial for South Africa because the pharmaceutical health industry is very much growth oriented.

“South Africa, like China, is not only pursuing economic growth, but also attaches great importance to culture, education, science, and technology,” Mr. Cwele said. He thinks that the bonds of cultural and educational exchanges connect the people of the two countries, and both sides can learn from each other’s culture. Young people in South Africa are also very interested in China’s history, culture, and development. “How did China grow into the world’s second-largest economy in just a few decades? How can we also develop young patriots who are willing to struggle?” Ambassador Cwele has high hopes for young people: “They are better than us.”

Cwele also has a positive outlook for Jinhua’s technological innovations. “Jinhua has a leading position in the digital economy and digital industries, which makes it a very competitive city. We also want to develop our own technicians,” said Cwele. He also praised the dialogue between future leaders of China and Africa. He is optimistic about the efforts put by Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua Polytechnic, and other colleges in Jinhua to train many African students. The students not only gained technical expertise, but they also grew as national think tank experts and scholars. They will play a very important role in promoting Africa’s economic and trade development.

Cwele is impressed by the activities of the Jinhua Homestay project. “I appreciate the wonderful, quiet, and relaxing country life,” said Ambassador Cwele. He hoped that he could walk into Jinhua himself soon, taste the local ham, visit the historical villages, and experience the tradition of its local culture.

Mr. Cwele wished the best for the upcoming 2022 China-Africa Economic and Trade Forum and China-Africa Cultural Cooperation and Exchange Week. (By Huang Xiaohua—Jinhua Daily, translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Daniel Haws)