On the afternoon of October 22, 2010, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa Max Sisulu at the Great Hall of the People.

Hu said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 12 years ago, bilateral relations have achieved substantial development with fruitful exchanges and cooperation in all areas. China and South Africa are both developing countries and shoulder the important tasks of developing economy, improving people’s livelihood, safeguarding world peace and promoting common development. The establishment and development of China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership not only conform to the fundamental interest of both peoples, but also are conducive to consolidating China-Africa friendship, promoting South-South cooperation and pushing forward the building of a harmonious world featuring lasting peace and common prosperity.

Hu said upgrading and developing China-South Africa relations raised higher requirements for friendly exchanges between the legislative bodies of the two countries. Hu hoped the two legislatures could meet the demand for the development of bilateral ties and launch their regular exchange mechanism at an appropriate time. He also urged both sides to enhance dialogue and exchanges between special committees, learn from each other’s experience on state governance, provide reliable legal guarantee for deepening cooperation in all areas and jointly open up new prospects for China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership.

Sisulu fully agreed with Hu’s comments on bilateral ties. He said the enormous achievements made by China not only enable itself to stand firm on its own among all nations of the world, but contribute to world peace and development. African countries including South Africa admire and appreciate China for its accomplishments. South Africa attaches great importance to ties with China and expects to learn from China’s experience on economic development and improvement of people’s livelihood. The National Assembly of South Africa would like to make new contributions to implementing the Beijing Declaration signed by the heads of state of the two countries, pushing forward pragmatic cooperation in all areas and promoting South Africa-China comprehensive strategic partnership.

Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Hua Jianmin and other officials attended the meeting.