Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in New York Wednesday, vowing to further enhance bilateral communication and cooperation.

Since the establishment of strategic partnership between China and South Africa, the mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields has scored remarkable achievements, Yang told Mashabane on the sidelines of a UN conference on the economic and financial crisis that opened Wednesday in the UN headquarters in New York.

China appreciated South African President Jacob Zuma's efforts in promoting China-South Africa ties and would like to make concerted efforts with South Africa to further deepen the partnership and jointly protect the interests of developing countries, Yang said.

He said China attached great importance to the fourth ministerial meeting of China-Africa Cooperation Forum set to be held in Egypt at year end, adding that China hopes the meeting could yield productive results.

Mashabane spoke highly of the bilateral strategic partnership. She said South Africa would like to further intensify the partnership, maintain the high-level exchange of visits and enhance coordination and cooperation in international affairs with China so as to play a constructive role in handling African hotspot issues.

China and South Africa forged diplomatic ties on Jan. 1, 1998.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2009)