Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday met with South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola in Beijing.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China is willing to work with South Africa to bring China-South Africa cooperation to a new level.
He noted that China is willing to work with African countries including South Africa to promote the success of the upcoming 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), injecting new impetus into Africa's development and revitalization.
For his part, Lamola said that South Africa highly appreciates China's leadership in the international agenda and is willing to work with China to promote solidarity and cooperation among Global South countries.
Noting that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the relationship between South Africa and China has been upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Lamola said South Africa firmly adheres to the one-China policy and supports China's series of global initiatives.
Chinese FM meets South African counterpart on bilateral relations
The reasons the Canadian government cited to impose additional import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) are weak, said Canadian economist Mark Kruger on Friday.
Kruger noted that the latest tariff announcement would do no good to the Canadian people or meeting Canada's carbon emissions targets.
On Aug 26, Canada said it would impose a 100 percent tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles and announced a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and aluminum from China.
The Canadian government claimed that this move is to protect Canadian jobs, but the argument is far from convincing, said Kruger.
"Clearly, by putting 100 percent tariff on those electric vehicles, they're not helping Canadian consumers, because they're making those vehicles more expensive. So I think that this policy, it doesn't help either Canadian workers or Canadian consumers. Canada has its own carbon emissions targets and goals, and by maintaining a high price for electric vehicles, they're pushing the achievement of those goals farther into the future," said Kruger.
China deplores and firmly opposes the Canadian government's act, which has blatantly violated WTO rules, blindly followed certain countries and taken unilateral tariff measures against Chinese products, as a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, describing such practices as "typical trade protectionism".
Canadian economist criticizes Canada's latest tariff against Chinese Evs
