Chinese vice president meets South Africa's deputy president

BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Thursday met with South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile in Beijing.

In September last year, China and South Africa upgraded the bilateral relationship to an all-round strategic cooperative partnership in the new era. Han said this opened a new chapter in building a high-level community with a shared future between the two countries.

He called on the two sides to further implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, constantly deepen political mutual trust, advance the high-quality development of bilateral cooperation, and serve the modernization endeavors of both countries.

Mashatile said that South Africa attaches great importance to the relationship with China and firmly adheres to the one-China policy.

Noting that the bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and other fields have made strong progress, Mashatile said they are ready to further implement the consensus reached to contribute to the development of relations between South Africa and China as well as those between Africa and China. ■