As part of China’s recent foray into African markets, Chinese Tech Company Tencent and the South African Department of Tourism have signed a new strategic co-operation agreement that will open the door for South African businesses to market their products to potential Chinese visitors.
According to a statement released by the department on Tuesday, the two-year partnership will strengthen ties between South Africa and the country’s largest trading partner even further, with more initiatives in the pipeline.
“This strategic co-operation agreement is one of many initiatives developed to increase arrivals from China to South Africa,” said tourism minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane.
“China is South Africa’s largest trading partner and we are leveraging this to strengthen the people-to-people exchange between the two countries.”
Tencent – which has a market capitalisation of more than $400 billion – currently owns popular chat platforms such as WeChat and Tencent QQ, and according to Kubayi-Ngubane, South African companies can make use of WeChat to digitally market their products to over a billion people.
