Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE VISIT OF THE SPEAKER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, FRENE GINWALA, TO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Frene Ginwala, arrived in Beijing on Thursday, 22 October, for a week-long visit to the People's Republic of China, which will also include a visit to the city of Shanghai.
Since her arrival on Thursday, the Speaker has met with President Jiang Zemin; the Chairman of the State Council, Mr Li Peng; the Vice Premier of the State Council, and former Foreign Minister, Mr Qian Qichen; and the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Mr Zou Jiahua.
During the very high-level meetings accorded by Dr Ginwala, she stressed the importance of forging a constructive partnership that will give attention to the problems of developing countries. The Speaker also focused on opportunities for investment in South Africa's spatial development zones, particularly industrial and agricultural development.
The Speaker stressed the importance of South African and Chinese entrepreneurs exploring opportunities for two-way investment and commercial partnership in both countries.
During her meeting with President Jiang, Dr Ginwala expressed the South African Government's condolences at the losses suffered during China's recent floods and also commended the PRC Government and people in China for the manner in which they had succeeded in dealing with the emergency.
During her meeting with Mr Qian Qichen, the Speaker congratulated the PRC Government for having recently signed the International Covenant on Civil and political rights and said that both South Africa and the PRC faced similar problems in seeking to build a human rights culture. She also referred to the recent visit to China by UN Human Rights Commissioner, Mrs Mary Robinson.
During the meeting with her counterpart in the PRC, the Chairman of the State Council, Dr Ginwala extended an invitation for Mr Li to visit South Africa in 1999.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON BEHALF OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY IN BEIJING PRETORIA 23 OCTOBER 1998