Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen says that South Africa’s relationship with China is a valuable one for South Africa, and that “we are getting a lot more out of the relationship than [we are] losing.”
Steenhuisen was speaking to Bloomberg. He has been in China for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
A major focus of the meeting was increasing marketing opportunities for agriculture in China. South Africa is hoping to expand the range of products it sells to China. It recently started exporting avocados to the Asian giant.
Said Steenhuisen: “We are focusing on making sure that we build strong relationships with China and that at a technical level, our agricultural products are able to meet the phytosanitary and biosecurity requirements of China.”
“We look forward to using this relationship in a strategic way to benefit South Africa,” he added.
He also said that the new Government of National Union was “going incredibly well.”