On January 31, the first direct flight was opened between China and South Africa. China’s Foreign Trade magazine had an exclusive interview with Mr. Miller Matola, CEO of Brand South Africa. During the interview, he expressed the importance and significance of the direct flight from Beijing to Johannesburg. Matola also denied they misunderstood the intention that China assisted Africa. He also looked into the promising future between China and South Africa under the frame of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) in terms of the economy and trade.
The direct flight was opened
At 12:20 pm by South Africa time on Tuesday January 31, 2012, a “dragon”jumped into the twilight sky of Johannesburg and fled to the east. After 15 hours, at 8:50 pm by China time on February 1, 2012, the flight SA288 landed at Beijing Capital Airport with all sectors of government, businesspeople and internationd media. When interviewing Mr. Miller Matola, he vividly described how meaningful the flight is to South Africa and China. He also compared the different concepts of dragons as they are evil in the west but in China the dragon is the symbol of wealth, prosperity, luck and power. The dragon also represents success, perfection, bright and an indomitable spirit. He expressed that this special time of the start of the Year of the Dragon was selected by South Africa Airways after elaborate consideration.
Miller said that after August 2011, when China and South Africa established a comprehensive and strategic partnership, bilateral ties reached a series of cooperative agreements in the areas of in- frastructure construction, transportation, real estate, health care and education. Johannesburg is South Africa’s largest city and its economic engine with many largescale companies and banks headquartered there. As Beijing is the capital of China, the direct flight between Beijing and Johannesburg could better promote the commercial exchange between China and South Africa, create more jobs and also could attract more investment.
According to Miller, before the direct flights, the businessmen from the two countries had to transfer from the third cities such as Hong Kong and Dubai and would arrive at the destination after at least 20 hours in transit. After the opening of the direct flight, it only takes about 15 hours. South Africa Airways chose the Airbus A340-600 plane for this route. When arriving at Johannesburg, Chinese businessmen could fly to more than 10 cities in southern Africa through South Africa Airways, even could transfer there and arrive at two major cities in South AmericaBuenos Aires of Argentina and Sao Paulo of Brazil.
China helps Africa based on
cooperation and not to rob the natural resources.
Western media always doubt why China assists African nations. Is China a robber of African resources or just really committed to help Africa out of poverty? When asked this question, Mr. Miller shook his head and expressed his view. In the long term, there were many reports from Western media that China robbed the natural resources of Africa and many Chinese workers poured into Africa and took the jobs from African workers. But these reports are irresponsible and they don’t know the truth. In the past, the original colonial countries, mainly from Europe, robbed the wealth and separated the African continent in order to develop it for themselves, and Africa was poorer. China is different from them. Over several hundreds of years, China has developed business ties with Africa. From the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, the relationship between China and Africa has strengthened gradually. China’s aid to Africa is based on cooperation not exploitation.
Nowadays, China has become the first trade partner with South Africa beyond U.S, Japan, Germany and the UK. South Africa is also China’s largest trade partner in Africa. According to recent data released by China Customs in December of 2011, the bilateral trade amount was $45 billion, an increase of 77% compared with the same period of 2010. Till the end of 2011, China imports of South African good increased by 116% with the amount of $32.07 billion. Growth of Chinese export to South Africa was up by 23.7% with the amount of $13.36 billion. The main commodities of South Africa that are exported to China include: iron ore, steel, manganese, chromium, tobacco,
wool, granite, gold, copper, aluminum and automotive spare parts. While the main commodities that China exports to South Africa include: textiles, kidney beans, peanuts, cottonseed, electronic products, fixtures, solid paraffin and TVs. Many Chinese enterprises in South Africa have achieved great success, such as ICBC, China Steel, FAW, Huawei, Hisense and other Chinesefunded enterprises. Till November of 2011, the total investment that Chinese state-owned enterprises and large-scale companies have invested in South Africa is$7 billion. New Era of BRICS
Last year, South Africa became a member of BRICS. Globally speaking, BRICS accounts for 42% of the population and 18% of the GDP. Miller thought that while many countries are in economic crisis, Brazil, Russia, India and China have achieved the miracle of economic development. Furthermore, they laid a solid foundation for the future in the long term with stable development. With the entrance of South Africa, BRICS play a more and more important role in the world, and make the world recognize the BRICS. Miller said that many countries have invested in Africa as an emerging investment destination. Till the end of 2010, the GDP of South Africa increased by 2.8% to reach $363 billion, and in 2012, it will rise by 3.4 %.
The increasingly strong relationship with China accelerates the growth of South Africa in world trade and the development of South Africa in Africa. Miller also introduced that besides the direct flight between Beijing and Johannesburg, South Africa Airways is the line between Beijing and other African main markets such as Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Taking advantage of geography, the route between Beijing and South Africa is one of the strategies that South Africa employ as it is keen to enter the Asian and South American market. In addition to Russia, South Africa has achieved the direct flight with the other BRIC countries. South Africa is the gateway to other African countries for Chinese businessmen. The direct flight will bring Chinese businessmen more opportunities in Johannesburg, South Africa and the African continent at large. At the end of the interview, Miller said he was optimistic about the future of the business opportunities of China.