CAPE TOWN, July 27 (Xinhua) -- South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Mait Nkoana-Mashabane will participate in and also co-chair the Coordinators Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), scheduled for July 29 in Beijing, it was announced on Tuesday.
Nkoana-Mashabane will take the opportunity to strengthen political and economic relations between South Africa and China, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said.
South Africa and China are the co-chairs of the FOCAC until 2018. The FOCAC Coordinators Meeting will assess the progress in terms of implementation after the commitments made at the Johannesburg Summit of the FOCAC in December 2015.
The FOCAC meetings are aimed at reinforcing the historical solidarity of friendship through win-win cooperation that exists between the governments and people of Africa and China.
This refers, in particular to large infrastructure programs that complement those identified within the African Union's vision for the next 50 years, Agenda 2063.
In particular, attention will be devoted to the implementation and utilisation of the FOCAC Fund, announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping during the historic Johannesburg FOCAC Summit.
Nkoana-Mashabane will also engage in discussion with her counterparts to review the status of bilateral relations and the implementation of the 23 Agreements signed during President Xi Jinping's state visit to South Africa in December 2015, according to DIRCO spokesperson Clayson Monyela.
