Sealed with a handshake: Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s president, met his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Beijing on Tuesday as the two sides announced a raft of commercial deals that will strengthen ties between the countries.
As is usual on these occasions, there were plenty of warm words about a “strategic partnership” and enhancing “mutual understanding”. But South Africa also revealed some frustration by saying it wanted China to do more than just import its raw materials.
In an interview with the FT, Rob Davies, South Africa’s trade minister, rejected criticism of China’s Africa policy, saying Beijing was not pursuing a neo-colonial policy and that Africa would benefit from its growing interest in the continent.