South African exports to China have been boosted with the signing of 20 cooperation agreements and contracts to the value of US$918 million today (Monday).
These agreements and contracts were signed during the China Inward Buying Mission event that took place in Sandton ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which kicks off on Friday.
The Inward Buying Mission forms part of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement (CSPA) signed between South Africa and China where both countries agreed that China would increase its sourcing of value-added products from South Africa.
Speaking at the signing, deputy director-general of the department of trade and industry (dti), Garth Strachan, said that South Africa was concerned about the skewed imports and exports pattern which strongly favoured China. “This is a troubling characteristic of our trade given that the CSPA has been in implementation for five years, yet not one of its main objectives has been achieved,” he said.
