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China’s Top Diplomat for Africa Appointed as Ambassador to South Africa

Wu Peng, China’s new ambassador-designate, arrived in South Africa on Monday. His appointment is the latest example of high-powered diplomats with continent-wide experience becoming the PRC’s envoys to Pretoria. Before he took up the ambassadorship, Wu was the Director-General of the ...

South Africa’s Ruling Elite Bid Farewell to China’s Ambassador

Chinese Ambassador Chen Xiaodong is leaving South Africa after the end of his term of nearly four years in a routine change of the guard. Chen’s tenure was largely unremarkable, especially in light of his predecessor, Lin Songtian, who maintained a ...

South Africa’s Ruling Party Praises “Great Progress” In Xinjiang

Senior members of South Africa’s African National Congress praised China’s “remarkable achievements” in alleviating poverty in its Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, saying the country is drawing inspiration from China. The officials took part in an event at the Chinese embassy in Pretoria, which ...

Relations Between China and South Africa Have Entered a “Golden Era,” Says Xi

Chinese President Xi Jinping began his visit to South Africa on Tuesday with a round of bilateral diplomacy with his host Cyril Ramaphosa. The two leaders met for talks in the capital Pretoria where Xi declared that relations between the two ...

China Resumes High-Level Diplomatic Visits to Africa

Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan met late last week with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a brief visit to Cape Town. Sun's visit comes one month after Foreign Minister Qin Gang did a five-nation tour and marks a return to ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The G20 Summit and the Half-Life of a Joke

When it was announced in 2023 that the African Union would become a full member of the G20, I darkly joked on a podcast that the AU’s entry into the body could very well mark the moment the G20 lost its status as one of the most important global coordination forums. Mark my words, I said, soon The Economist will be like “Uhhh, the G20 is OVER – it’s the ...

A Chinese Giant’s Complicity in South Africa’s Corruption Disaster

Anyone who knows a South African will be amply aware that the country is currently undergoing economically ruinous rolling blackouts labeled ‘loadshedding.’ Even if you don’t know them, South Africans are liable to follow you down the street, foam-flecked and shouting about Eskom, the corruption-addled state power utility.