South Africa-China: Pretoria bets on exports to the Chinese market

South Africa aims to make greater use of China’s market opening and the duty-free treatment Beijing offers African countries that maintain diplomatic relations with China. A meeting hosted by the Chinese embassy in Pretoria on Thursday brought together nearly 400 government, business, exporter and entrepreneur representatives to discuss expanding South African products’ access to the Chinese market. Ambassador Wu Peng said bilateral trade reached nearly $15 billion between May and August, up almost 24% year on year, while South African exports to China rose nearly 25% to $5.3 billion.