2010-03-29 11:40

Jia Qinglin (2nd L), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, is welcomed by a South African senior official upon his arrival at the airport in Cape Town of South Africa, March 28, 2010. Jia Qinglin on Sunday arrived in Cape Town of South Africa, for an official visit to the country at the southern tip of Africa.[Photo/Xinhua]

CAPE TOWN: China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin arrived in Cape Town on Sunday, starting an official visit to South Africa at the invitation of the National Council of Provinces of South Africa.

In a written statement issued upon arrival, Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top advisory body, said the China-South Africa relationship had advanced in an all-round way since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1998.

The two countries, which forged the strategic partnership on equality, mutual benefit and common development in 2007, have developed deeper political trust, achieved fruitful results in the fields of trade, culture, education and science, and worked closely on international issues, Jia said.

Since China and South Africa forged diplomatic ties on Jan. 1, 1998, the two countries have been steadily promoting bilateral cooperation and exchanges.

In recent years, frequent high-level exchanges have deepened their strategic partnership. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao and respectively paid their visits to South Africa in 2007 and 2006.

During the last 10 years, the two countries have obtained remarkable achievements in cooperation in economy and trade. In 2009, Bilateral trade volume between the two countries stood at 16.1 billion US dollars.