Follow CGSP on Social Media

Listen to the CGSP Podcast

Why Working With South Africa is Important, But Complicated for Both the U.S. and China

by Cobus van Staden

South Africa’s relationship with China and Russia has painted a target on its back in Washington, with some policymakers calling for it to be kicked out of the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade pact.

SA is China’s largest trading partner on the continent. Through its BRICS membership, it also extended China-centric political groupings to Africa while working with Beijing on climate positions as part of the BASIC group with Brazil and India.

Lead the Conversation on China

Subscribe Today to Get Full Access to The China-Global South Project

Check Out Everything You'll Get With Your Subscription

The China-Global South Daily Brief delivered to your inbox at 6AM Washington time

Full access to exclusive news and analysis from editors based in the Global South

Transcripts of CGSP’s twice-weekly podcasts

Students and teachers with a valid .edu email address are eligible for a 50% discount off monthly or yearly subscriptions. Email us to receive a discount code.

You Might Like

A Proposed Senate Bill Intended to Increase U.S. Exports to Africa Seems to be Far More Focused on Confronting China

U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin published a press release on Monday that touted a new bipartisan bill that aims to increase U.S. exports to Africa. The “Increasing American Jobs through ...

China’s Australia Tensions a Win for South African Wines 

South Africa doubled its exports of wine to China last year, following the souring of relations between Beijing and its biggest wine seller, Australia. While we’ve seen sporadic reports of how ...

The Starkly Different Responses by the U.S. and China to Zimbabwe’s Controversial Election

The Chinese government said it is “ready to work” with the new (old) Zimbabwean government and claimed that the controversial vote was conducted in “peaceful and orderly fashion.” Although Beijing did acknowledge some ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.