On June 28, Yin Yong, Mayor of Beijing, met with a high-level delegation led by Panyaza Lesufi, Premier of Gauteng Province in South Africa. As the delegation entered the spacious and well-lit meeting hall in the summer breeze, they were pleasantly surprised to see two king proteas, native to their homeland, among the floral arrangements.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Africa, as well as the twining of Beijing and Gauteng Province. At the invitation of Beijing, Premier Lesufi led a delegation to visit the capital of China. It was also the first visit to the city by a Gauteng premier since the two regions established sister city ties.

-- “comradeship plus brotherhood”

During the meeting, Yin said that President Xi Jinping and President Cyril Ramaphosa reached a consensus on building a high-quality China-South Africa community with a shared future in their recent phone call, which charted the course for the future development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

A major part of such partnership is friendly interactions at the sub-national level. Since Beijing was twinned with Gauteng 25 years ago, there has been a series of fruitful cooperation in areas such as economy and trade, science and technology, and people-to-people exchanges. Beijing held the Beijing Week of Year of China in South Africa in Gauteng, while Gauteng also supported Beijing in the fight against Covid-19. In October 2021, Gauteng attended the Beijing Sub-forum of the 4th Forum on China-Africa Local Government Cooperation online, which released the “Consensus of the Beijing Sub-forum of the 4th Forum on China-Africa Local Government Cooperation”. The ever-deepening friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two places not only vividly illustrate the special relations featuring “comradeship plus brotherhood”, but also cement public support for the relations between the two countries.

-- “Beijing is an evolving and dynamic city”

During their stay in Beijing, the delegation not only made a trip to renowned world heritage sites such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, but also visited Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall. The delegation hailed Beijing as both a historical and cultural city and a vibrant, modern metropolis. The Premier was so impressed that he wrote “Magnificent Beauty!” in the guestbook at the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall.

In addition to a harmonious and livable environment, the delegation also showed great interest in new energy technologies and their applications, development of smart cities, and vocational education. They made field visits to Daxing International Hydrogen Demonstration Zone, Beijing SinoHytec Co., Ltd., and BAIC BJEV, where they took a test ride in BAIC’s ARCFOXc.

At Megvii and Haidian City Brain Exhibition Center, they learned about how Beijing leveled up smart urban governance with AI and big data technologies.

Their trip also included a visit to Beijing Polytechnic College, where they were given a tour of facilities and equipment such as the Schneider Center, automotive training lab, 3D printers, and intelligent robots. They were also briefed on the college’s experience in delivering international education.

The field visit serves as a window for the delegation to gain a genuine and comprehensive understanding of Beijing’s high-standard opening-up and high-quality development. The delegation highly appreciated Beijing’s socio-economic achievements and vibrant sci-tech innovation, and expressed their willingness to foster closer bilateral ties, learn from Beijing’s practices, and expand cooperation areas.

-- Expand win-win cooperation with a fresh start

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the sister city relationship, Gauteng is eager to intensify pragmatic cooperation in areas like urban planning, economy and trade, smart city, and green energy, and expand people-to-people exchanges, said Lesufi.

At this new starting point, the two regions will maintain close contact, foster synergy between each other’s urban development strategies, and strengthen mutual learning in urban governance. Efforts will be made to deepen economic and trade cooperation and encourage two-way investment by enterprises. There will be more interactions in education, culture, and tourism, as well as people-to-people exchanges to enhance the friendship between and the well-being of the people of both places.

Seeing is believing. Today, Beijing is witnessing an uptrend in cross-border people-to-people exchanges, interactions with sister cities across the globe, and offline international exchanges, which unleashes the potential for closer international cooperation. As 2023 marks the first year of the full implementation of the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, Beijing will accelerate its efforts to improve its role as the national center for international exchanges, welcoming friends from all over the world, both old and new. It will also promote cooperation through “bringing in” and “going global” initiatives to serve the development of the capital in the new era.

South Africa is a major African country, and BRICS’ only member from the African continent. Gauteng, where the country’s administrative capital, Tshwane, is situated, serves as the national center for economy, finance, manufacturing, and sci-tech education, accounting for more than one-third of the country’s GDP. Johannesburg, the capital of Gauteng Province, is the largest and most economically developed city in South Africa. Since Beijing and Gauteng became sister cities in 1998, the two sides have seen ever-deeper friendly exchanges and cooperation in various fields.