/ 24 April 2000

CHINESE PRESIDENT IN SA

CHINESE President Jiang Zemin lands in Pretoria today for trade talks on Tuesday with President Thabo Mbeki.

The two will discuss the progress of the China-Africa Co-operation Forum, plan a ministerial conference for October in Beijing, and discuss how China can contribute to pan-African trade and development.

The Democratic Party has attacked Pretoria’s alignment with a government “that denies its people basic human rights and political freedom” and called on the government to discuss human rights in Tibet and the crackdown on dissidents in China.