The Chinese Consulate General in Joburg brought cheers to the Qwa Qwa community in Free State with a donation of blankets at Bophelo Day Care Centre in the Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality.
The joyous event was attended by Free State MEC for Education, Dr Mamiki Maboya and Consul General of China in Joburg, Pan Qingjiang in commemoration of the life and legacy of former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.
“As former president Nelson Mandela once said, ‘There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children’. The early childhood development project undertaken by both government and non-government serves as the meaningful endeavor in this respect,” said Pan.
“Today we are honoured here to be part of this engagement and to express a small token of love and care by donating 200 blankets to the Bophelo Day Care Centre. We hope it will help bring some warmth and comfort to children who are in need.
“We always believe we are living in a global village and are one community with shared future. We need to help each other and join hand in hand to build a better future,” he said.
The Chinese Consulate General in Joburg, led by Pan, serves provinces of Gauteng and Free State.
Pan said his diplomatic mission has actively been cultivating people-to-people relations, working closely with the two provinces.
“We share the strong commitment to work together to strengthen the traditional friendship between our two countries, especially among our peoples. China and South Africa friendship has travelled a long span of time and has defied the obstacles of mountains and oceans,” he said.
“We would like to do more things together for communities, for those people in need, to translate our bilateral good relations into more concrete steps and outcomes.”
Pan added that both China and South Africa attach great importance to early childhood development.
“It is our firm belief that children and young people are the future and the hope of the nation.
“The whole society should shoulder the responsibility for the growth of young people and efforts should be made to ensure the well-being and healthy development of children and to ensure that our children grow up to be confident, compassionate, and responsible individuals, ready to face the challenges of the future” he said.
“The Consulate is ready to continue to work together with local society to make our contribution. I wish you all the best of luck, happiness, and good health.”
When South Africa and China established diplomatic relations in 1998, trade volume was only less than 1.6 billion US dollars. By 2023, the trade volumes had ballooned to nearly US$56 billion – a figure 30 times more than in 1998.