Jiemian Yang’s Talking Points at South African Inter-Mission Meetings
Shangri-La, Pudong, Shanghai, China
March 7, 2011

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great honor to share with you some of my personal perspectives on China-South Africa relations in the 21st century. Today I want to emphasize our cooperation and coordination at cross-regional and global level as I think it is high time that our two countries should think in both broader and longer terms as we are emerging rapidly.

I. New Dimensions of  China's  Global Strategy

1.1. Chinese ultimate goal of the 21st century is to build China into a strong global power. Therefore, China persists in peaceful development and strives for a favorable environment to this end. On the basis of what it has achieved in this regard, China is also presently attaching greater importance to shaping the international environment through multilateral diplomacy.

1.2. China works at multi-layer cooperation with developing countries, among which the major developing countries, i.e., the emerging powers occupy a special position in China’s overall global strategy. China has the following reasons to identify itself with the emerging powers. Politically, emerging powers are part of developing countries and share the similar past and common future task. Economically, the collective rising of the emerging powers has greatly changed the international configuration of economic powers in favor of the developing countries. Culturally, the emerging powers represent non-Western culture: China hosted both Olympic Games and World Expo. South Africa hosted the World Cup.

1.3. China works together with other countries, both developing and developed ones, to transform the existent international system towards fairer and more equitable direction. However, China insists in non-confrontational and peacefully negotiated way. China’s coping with the international financial crisis in the past two years has convincingly vindicated it.

1.4. China understands the prolonged and difficulty tasks of transforming the international system and divides this enormous task into several phases. While working with the international community at the reform of the United Nations, China pays particular importance to its cooperation of the BRICS, BASICS, G-20 and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

II. New Interacting Mechanism

2.1. Fast growth of comprehensive national strength is the basis for the bilateral relations between China and South Africa. In the past three decades and more China has achieved great progresses on its course of reform and opening up. South Africa has also firmly established itself as the weightiest country in Africa since 1994. The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Africa in 1998 has opened a new page in the Sino-South African relations which in turn reinforce the deepening of mutual understanding and mutual benefits.

2.2. Prospects of further development of the bilateral relationship call for multilateral cooperation. In terms of cross-regional cooperation, China and South Africa have gradually contributed to the successes of FOCAC. In terms of global cooperation, China and South Africa both are held important emerging powers. The BASIC group in meeting the challenge of climate change has paved the way for more institutionalized cooperation between these two countries and other emerging powers. The UNSC and G-20 are two important arms of the current international system and both include China and South Africa, therefore, the two countries add new dimension to their cooperation on a higher plane and broader platform. Admittedly, they are still learning how to adapt to this new situation.

2.3. The formation of BRICS ushers in a new era of cooperation between China and South Africa. And please allow me to spend a few more minutes on the BRICS.

(1) China and South Africa can be complementary each other as they become the new partners at the BRICS. On the one hand, China has been with the BRIC for a couple of years and is in the position to offer consultancy to the new member of South Africa. On the other hand, South Africa can offer fresh ideas and instill new momentums into the BRICS.

(2) With this new interacting mechanism, the two countries can not only multiply their strength and influence on the major international issues, but also enhance the interests of the massive developing countries as a whole. What merits our attention is that as developing countries, China and South Africa should give full consideration to other fellow developing countries and represent them at the UNSC Reform and G-20, etc.

(3) China and South Africa can be on a better learning curve to think and act like a great power in managing regional and global affairs. Compared with the Western powers having played the roles of global/major powers since 1500, China and South Africa must spare no efforts to learn to fulfill this new role both materially and intellectually.

(4) The BRICS, BASICS and G-20 are becoming important carriers of the contemporary South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue. As the first echelon of the emerging markets in the G-20, The BRICS is irreplaceable in their role in the contemporary South-South cooperation and South-North dialogue. BRICS cooperation is itself an important part of the South-South cooperation and meantime adds weight to the emerging powers in the North-South dialogue, hence maintains the shared interests of the broader developing countries.

(5) Rising as a group would also create far better environment than their individual efforts. In the past, the emerging powers acted individually and were often unable to effectively meet the challenges from the West. Now they can coordinate their policies and movements more efficiently.

III. Material and Intellectual Contribution

3.1. Both China and South Africa have the responsibility to promote the evolving South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue. They have to understand that only by strengthening themselves both materially and intellectually, can they realize their pursuance to be major and powerful nations in the world. Therefore, the emerging powers, China and South Africa inclusive, should pay greater attention to conceptual convergence so as to shape the future of themselves and the world alike.

3.2. Emerging Powers’ Conceptualized Cooperation. Generally speaking, the orientation of the cooperation of the emerging powers can be summarized as “development, partnership, inclusiveness and contribution”, which as a whole figure out the features of the cooperation, i.e., development-oriented, partnership of new type, inclusive rather than exclusive, and the supply of international public goods.

(1) Concept One of Development-Oriented: The growth of economic quality is much wanted on the basis of economic growth, and the economic development should be comprehensive, balanced and sustainable. The emerging powers’ cooperation in economic and trade fields needs to upgrade in terms of scale and value, and the cooperation should be omni-directional and with multi-realms. The emerging powers are in need of improving their national industrial structure, external development environment and enhancing their own international positions. Those are their aspirations in common with those of all other developing countries.

(2) Concept Two of New Type Partnership: The emerging powers are going to build a new-type of partnership with a feature of a new era. Their cooperation should be plural, broad in realms, trans-regional and plastic. The realms of the cooperation include not only bilateral trade, finance and energy, but also global issues like climate change, energy security, international development and the world economy, etc. As the emerging powers are dispersed in major developing regions and represent leading economies in those regions, the cooperation is positively significant to pushing trans-regional cooperation. The emerging powers are continuing their cooperation in an incremental, active, pragmatic, open and transparent manner that presents a model of a new-type of partnership with a feature of a new era.

(3) Concept Three of Inclusiveness: The emerging powers should build up a cooperative relationship that is inclusive within itself, within developing countries and between developing and developed countries. The emerging powers should continue to pursue the kind of dialogue and cooperation that will lead to the re-adjustments of the current international and regional systems. As mentioned before, the re-adjustment is not confrontational but a gradual process of reforming the old governance system though by observing the established rule of the world governance in the first place. Here I want to emphasize that China and South Africa should adopt welcoming attitudes toward each other’s entering into their respective region.

(4) Concept Four of Contribution: The increased right of discourse and standard-setting in the peaceful transition of the international system on the part of the emerging powers should be matched with increase of their contribution to the international society, such as humanitarian assistance, mechanism-building and intellectual contribution.

Thank you very much for your attention.

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