驻南非大使田学军在“庆祝中南建交十五周年”学术研讨会上的讲话

Keynote Speech by H.E. Ambassador Tian Xuejun at the Ambassadorial Forum on China-South Africa Diplomatic Relations at 15 Years

2013年9月19日，比勒陀利亚，南非

Pretoria, South Africa, 19 September 2013

很高兴出席“庆祝中南建交十五周年”学术研讨会。今天是中国的中秋节，是一个象征着团圆和美满的日子。来自中南两国的官员、学者和各界人士汇聚于此，共同回顾中南关系过去15年的历程，展望中南关系美好的明天，极具象征意义。首先，我谨代表中国驻南非大使馆，对各位来宾表示热烈欢迎，对你们长期以来为促进中南友好合作关系所作出的不懈努力和重要贡献致以最诚挚的谢意！作为“庆祝中南建交十五周年”系列活动之一，我期待本次研讨会能为中南关系今后的发展提供更多的真知灼见。

It’s a great pleasure for me to attend this Ambassadorial Forum marking 15 years of China-South Africa diplomatic relations. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, which is also known as the Moon-cake Festival. This is a day for happiness and family reunion. It’s very symbolic that we gather here today with so many friends from both China and South Africa, to review what we have achieved in the past 15 years and to look ahead into the future.

To begin with, I wish to extend, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy, our warmest greetings to all the guests present today. Thank you for your long-time commitment and contribution to China-South Africa friendship and cooperation. This forum is one of a series of events marking the 15th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and South Africa, and I look forward to learning from your thoughts and insights for the future development of our relationship.

女士们、先生们，

Ladies and Gentlemen,

中国和南非虽远隔千山万水，但两国友好交往和传统友谊源远流长。15年前的1998年1月1日，两国正式建立外交关系，这是中南关系史上的一件大事，开启了中南关系的新纪元。15年来，我们生活的世界发生了深刻的变化，中南关系也发生了巨大的变化。我愿意围绕三个问题，与大家分享我对中南关系发展的看法。

Though China and South Africa are far apart, the friendship and exchanges between our two peoples date back to ancient times. Fifteen years ago, on January 1st 1998, China and South Africa formally established diplomatic relationship. This was a milestone in our bilateral relations, and opened up a new era. The past one-and-a-half decades have witnessed profound changes in international landscape, as well as major developments in China-South Africa ties. Today I wish to share with you my observations on China-South Africa relationship by raising three questions and offering my answers.

第一个问题，如何评价15年来中南关系的发展？

The first question is: how do we assess the development of this bilateral relationship in the past 15 years?

我认为，可以用三个V来概括：

I think my answers will be around three words starting with the initial letter V, as in victory:

第一个是“VISION”。两国领导人始终以战略眼光审视并推动两国关系发展。两国关系定位从2000年的伙伴关系、到2004年的战略伙伴关系、再到2010年的全面战略伙伴关系，实现了历史性跨越，两国关系层次逐步提升。频繁的高层互访为中南关系发展指明了方向，成为推动两国全方位合作的强大动力。过去15年来，中国历届国家主席、人大委员长、总理等领导人几乎都访问过南非，南非领导人亦多次访华。去年7月，祖马总统访华并出席中非合作论坛第五届部长级会议。今年3月，中国新任国家主席习近平上任伊始就对南非进行了国事访问，并出席了在德班举行的金砖国家领导人第五次会晤。

The first word is Vision. The leaderships of the two countries have always had a strategic vision in reviewing and promoting this relationship. Our relationship has achieved historic leaps and was elevated from partnership in 2000, to strategic partnership in 2004 and to comprehensive strategic partnership in 2010. Frequent high-level exchanges have guided the development of bilateral relations, and have been the strong driving force behind the cooperation in various areas between our two countries. For the past 15 years, almost all successive Chinese leaderships, including Presidents, NPC Chairpersons and Premiers, have visited South Africa. Likewise, many South African leaders visited China on various occasions. In July last year, President Zuma visited China and attended the opening ceremony of the fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. And in March this year, the new Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a highly successful state visit to South Africa and attended the fifth BRICS Summit in Durban during his first overseas trip after taking office.

第二个是“VELOCITY”。中南关系过去15年的快速发展令人惊叹。以经贸为例，双边贸易额从建交时约15亿美元增至2012年的近600亿美元，15年间增长了40倍。今年1－8月，中南贸易额达442亿美元，同比增长13.3%。中国已连续4年成为南非第一大贸易伙伴国、第一大出口市场和第一大进口来源地，南非则是中国在非洲第一大贸易伙伴国。2012年中国公民赴南旅游人数超过13万，同比增长56%。目前南非是与中国建立友好城市最多、设立孔子学院最多、吸引中国游客最多和接收中国留学生最多的非洲国家。

The second word is Velocity. The speed at which China-SA relationship grows for the past 15 years is amazing. Take economic relations and trade as an example: our bilateral trade volume was only about US$1.5 billion when the diplomatic relationship was first established. But in 2012, the figure reached nearly US$60 billion, which means an increase of about 40 times in the past 15 years. For the first 8 months of this year, our trade volume reached US$44.2 billion, registering an increase of 13.3% from the same period last year. China has been South Africa’s largest trading partner country, largest export market and largest source of import for the past four consecutive years. Meanwhile, South Africa is China’s largest trading partner in Africa. In 2012, more than 130,000 Chinese tourists travelled to South Africa, an increase of 56% from the previous year. South Africa, compared with other African countries, has the largest number of sister cities with China and the largest number of Confucius Institutes and also attracts the largest number of Chinese tourists and Chinese overseas students.

第三个“VITALITY”。中南关系的活力来源于两国战略利益和战略目标的一致性。两国都是发展中国家和新兴大国，面临着相似的发展机遇与挑战，在重大国际和地区问题上有着广泛共识。中南关系的活力还体现在内容丰富、形式多样的交流机制上，比如副元首级的国家双边委员会，今年下半年在北京将举行第五次会议；比如两国议会定期交流、战略对话、联合工作组等机制。南非目前还担任中非合作论坛非方主席国和金砖国家轮值主席国。两国在上述机制框架下保持着密切而有效的合作。

The third word is Vitality. The vitality of this relationship comes from the convergence in the strategic interests and objectives of both countries. We are both developing countries and emerging economies. We face similar opportunities and challenges in development, and we share broad consensus on major international and regional issues. The vitality of this relationship is reflected in the rich content and diversified forms of our exchange mechanisms. For example, we have the Bi-National Commission at the Deputy President level and the fifth BNC plenary meeting will be held in Beijing in late October. We also have many other mechanisms, such as the regular exchange mechanism between our two parliaments, the strategic dialogue and the Joint Working Group. South Africa is now the co-Chair of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and has assumed the rotating presidency of BRICS. Our two countries are now having close and effective cooperation in the above mentioned mechanisms.

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