The People's Republic of China (PRC) established diplomatic relations with Republic of South Africa (RSA) in January 1998. South Africa is one of the African countries that China most prioritizes within Chinese-African foreign relations. In 2010, China was South Africa's largest trading partner.South Africa-China trade ties: President Zuma bids to shore up 'Gateway to China' status The Christian Science Monitor, 25 August 2010 Since 2007, China-South African relations have become increasingly close with increasing trade, policy and political ties. In the 2010 Beijing Declaration, South Africa was upgraded to the diplomatic status of Strategic Comprehensive Partner by the Chinese government. South Africa increasingly votes in alignment with China in the United Nations.
Recognition Official relations between the PRC and South Africa were established on January 1, 1998. The dismantling of the apartheid regime in South Africa and the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s opened up the possibility of official relations being established between the PRC and South Africa. Before the 1990s South Africa had a close official relationship with the government in Taiwan for strategic and economic reasons.
Prior to the establishment of full diplomatic relations, South Africa and the People's Republic of China established "cultural centres" in Beijing and Pretoria, known as the South African Centre for Chinese Studies and the Chinese Centre for South African Studies respectively.Interpreting Chinese Foreign Policy: The Micro-macro Linkage Approach, Quansheng Zhao Oxford University Press, 1996, page 68 Although the Centres, each headed by a Director, did not use diplomatic titles, national flags, or coats of arms, their staff used diplomatic passports and were issued with diplomatic identity documents, while their vehicles had diplomatic number plates.Establishing the SA Mission in the PRC, Embassy of the People's Republic of China, 31 March 2008 They also performed visa and consular services.Colour, Confusion and Concessions: The History of the Chinese in South Africa, Hong Kong University Press, 1996, page 424
The handover of Hong Kong to the PRC in 1997 was a factor in the switch in official recognition, as South Africa had strong trade links with the territory, then under British administration. Pretoria was concerned that after the handover, Beijing might downgrade its consulate and the country would no longer be allowed to use Hong Kong as a transit route for air traffic and trade.Statement on Future South Africa/Hong Kong Relations by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Aziz Pahad, June 12, 1997 In addition, key South African politicians and government officials in the post-apartheid government, most notably the Communist Party of South Africa, lobbied strongly in support of shifting recognition to the PRC.South Africa and Taiwan: Pariahs, International Redemption and Global Change, Peter Vale in Taiwan's Expanding Role in the International Arena, Maysing H. Yang, M.E. Sharpe, 1997, page 104
However, Taiwan lobbied hard for continued South African recognition and initiated an expensive public relations drive to convince members of the anti-apartheid government. Then President Nelson Mandela argued in favour of a 'Two Chinas' policy that was incompatible with the Beijing's One China principle.
After many years of strong lobbying and engagement with Mandela in November 1996 the South African government announced that it would switch recognition from Taiwan to the PRC in January 1998.China / South Africa -- a Chopsticks Relationship, P J Botha, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of South Africa, 4 July 2008 A visit by Taipei's Foreign Minister John Chiang to meet with Alfred Nzo and attempt to salvage the situation produced no results, and so Taipei's ambassador to Pretoria Gene Loh was recalled on 6 December 1996. South Africa has since followed the one China principle.
Economics
In 1992, trade between China and South Africa amounted to US$14 million, but by the time the two countries had established relations in 1998, this had swelled to US$1.4 billion. By 2010 trade between the two countries had increased to US$25.6 billion with imports from South Africa reaching US$14.8 billion. Cross country investment had grown to US$7 billion in the same year. Most South African exports to China in 2010 were primary products. Two-way trade between China and South Africa reached US$60.3 billion by 2014.
As China began a new town construction boom around 2010, the Chinese government and state-owned enterprises began developing new towns with African governments, including South Africa.
In December 2010, South Africa was invited to join China in BRICS group of emerging economies.Joining BRIC not a game changer Moneyweb.co.za15 With the invitation, it was expected that South Africa would expand its trade relations with other BRIC countries, including China. Some see the BRICS relationship as potentially competing with South Africa's relations with the IBSA Dialogue Forum. In July 2010, the South African publication Business Day reported that 45% of SABMiller's growth would come from its China operations by 2014. The anomalous growth of South African media company Naspers in 2009 was largely owed to its stake in the Chinese company Tencent.
In December 2015 the two countries signed twenty-five agreements worth a combined value of US$16.5 billion at an event at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Business Forum held in South Africa and attended by about 400 business people from both countries. At the same event, the two countries discussed economic priority such as the "alignment of industries to accelerate South Africa's industrialisation process; enhancement of cooperation in Special Economic Zones (SEZs); marine cooperation; infrastructure development, human resources cooperation; and financial cooperation."
As of 2015/16 there were over 140 medium-sized or large Chinese companies in South Africa with a combined investment of US$13 billion, employing around 30,000 South Africans. Significant investments by Chinese firms in South Africa include the China First Automotive assembly plant in Coega Industrial Park, a Hisense Group white goods factory, and a Hebei Jidong Development Group cement plant.
Increasingly the South African government, inspired by China's success in reducing poverty and promoting economic growth, is looking to China for policy ideas and inspiration in its efforts at promoting growth.
In 2024, South Africa imposed anti-dumping tariffs on structural steel from China. In March 2026, South Africa increased those tariffs.
Loans In 2020 South Africa was estimated to owe the equivalent of 4% of its annual GDP to Chinese lenders.
In July 2018, China announced to invest $15 billion in South Africa's economy which included loans for power utilities and infrastructure. Chinese loans to South African power utility Eskom have proven controversial amidst accusations that it was an example of debt-trap diplomacy by China. In 2018 an additional R370 billion (US$25.8 billion) loan from the China Development Bank was issued to the South African government as part of an economic stimulus package. The size of loan and the lack of public information about it was controversial and criticized by opposition parties as a possibly pushing South Africa into a "debt trap".
Chinese development finance to South Africa From 2000 to 2011, there are approximately 37 Chinese official development finance projects identified in South Africa through various media reports.Austin Strange, Bradley C. Parks, Michael J. Tierney, Andreas Fuchs, Axel Dreher, and Vijaya Ramachandran. 2013. China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection. CGD Working Paper 323. Washington DC: Center for Global Development. These projects range from a financial cooperation agreement worth of $2.5 US billion between the Development Bank of South Africa and the China Development Bank,Strange, Parks, Tierney, Fuchs, Dreher, and Ramachandran, China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection.http://aiddatachina.org/projects/28153 to an investment of $877 million by China's state-owned miner Jinchuan and China Development Bank in South Africa's platinum industry,Strange, Parks, Tierney, Fuchs, Dreher, and Ramachandran, China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection.http://aiddatachina.org/projects/2479 and an investment of US$250 million by China's Huaqiang Holdings in a theme park in Johannesburg.Strange, Parks, Tierney, Fuchs, Dreher, and Ramachandran, China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection.http://aiddatachina.org/projects/16779
Visits
In the early nineties, before South Africa officially recognised the PRC, Chinese Foreign Minister and CCP Politburo member Qian Qichen (钱其琛) paid an unofficial and very quiet visit to South Africa to meet senior government ministers and inspect possible future embassy sites. Then South African Minister for Foreign Relations, Pik Botha, interrupted his participation in the CODESA talks to have the first high-level meeting between South Africa and the PRC. In October 1991 a South African delegation including Pik Botha went to Beijing to meet Qian Qichen.
In September 2007 then South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka visited Beijing and met with General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Hu Jintao (胡锦涛). After which she gave a speech at Tsinghua University on building China-South African relations.
China-South African relations expanded significantly in 2010 following a number of high-level official visits and exchanges by officials from both countries. In late March 2010 CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin (贾庆林) visited South Africa and met with South Africa's President Jacob Zuma and signed contracts worth more than US$300 million.
In August 2010 President Jacob Zuma led a South African delegation of 17 cabinet members and 300 businesspeople to China where they signed the Beijing Declaration on the Establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa. This was followed by a visit to China by speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa Max Sisulu in October 2010. In November 2010 Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (习近平) travelled to South Africa to meet with South African Vice President Motlanthe and signed bilateral cooperation agreements in energy, trade statistics, banking regulation and other areas. His visit was followed by an official goodwill visit to South Africa by China's top legislator Wu Bangguo (吴邦国) in May 2011 as part of his Africa-Asia tour which included Namibia and Angola.
In late September 2011 South African Vice President Motlanthe lead a trade delegation to Beijing at the invitation of Chinese Vice President Xi. During the visit the China Development Bank and the Development Bank of South Africa signed a US$2.5 billion agreement. The two countries also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on geological exploration and mineral resources.
On the 17 July 2012 President Zuma led a South African delegation that included International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane and Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies to attend the fifth Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) in Beijing.